
Greg Ciola basing himself on Gn 1:11-12 states, "The author of all life is God and according to the first chapter of the Book of Genesis, He created every species to reproduce after its own kind. Thus, there is no room in Gods creation for man to step in and start modifying DNA by cross transplanting the genes from one organism or species into the DNA of another. In essence, man is now creating species variants that God never intended to exist. Such alteration of species specificity is a serious violation of Gods natural order, and I believe it to be a corruption of life and an abomination unto the LORD."
Unfortunately Greg only quotes selectively from Genesis. We also read in Genesis,
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There is also a darker side to man's role in nature, that is his fall from divine love and wisdom and its consequences as we read,
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The question we must face is not whether man has a right to modify the life forms on earth but rather "Do we have the wisdom to bring about these genetic changes without harming the ecosystem at the same time?" Pope John Paul II stated, "The dominion granted to man by the Creator is not an absolute power, nor can one speak of a freedom to "use and misuse," or to dispose of things as one pleases. The limitation imposed from the beginning by the Creator himself and expressed symbolically by the prohibition not to "eat of the fruit of the tree" (cf. Gen 2:16-17) shows clearly enough that, when it comes to the natural world, we are subject not only to biological laws but also to moral ones, which cannot be violated with impunity ." (Encyclical, Sollicitudo rei Socialis #35)
Genetic
Modification has its limits imposed by the nature of things as willed by God.
At the right you see the classical Chimera of Greek Mythology. It was a monstrous beast which ravaged the countryside of Lykia in Anatolia. It was a composite creature, with the body and maned head of a lion, a goat's head rising from its back, a set of goat-udders, and a serpentine tail. (Wegpage: Theoi Greek Mythology) "Thus it would be unacceptable to create a chimera, in which half the genes were mixed from two different species, or to mix the egg nucleus of one species with the cytoplasm of another. In contrast, to add one or two genes from another species would [not] be a violation of the nature of the animal or plant, unless that particular change greatly altered some very basic capacity or property of the organism." (Report of the Church of Scotland General Assembly, 11 May 1999)