OUR MOTIVATION

Is religion a barrier towards the development of synthetic biology therapies? Do religious people believe in extending the human lifespan? Is it the right thing to do in society? These are just some of the questions we are trying to better understand through talking to religious leaders and the public. We understand that over 84% of the world population have a faith, therefore is this 84% of the world population against synthetic biology healthy ageing therapies?

We wanted to explore religion and the synthetic biology community as this is something that has not been explored with enough care and tact and we wanted to shine some light on the issues, questions and opportunities this poses. Religion, in the scientific community, is often seen as a barrier to innovation. This has been a point of discussion between many creationists and scientists but we wanted to explore the interactions the two have and if they can coexist without problems and even stimulate each other positively. We wanted to do this with open two-way discussions between religious leaders and ourselves, to try and see what opinions and ideas they have and what they represent in their community.

We hoped that these interactions would allow us to show them what we are doing and what benefits this can have on their community. We are firm believers that asking “why”, listening carefully whilst trying to understand and respect different views and beliefs helps us widen our horizons. Simultaneously we wanted to try to bring our ideas and solutions to their attention and hopefully bridge this gap between synthetic biology and religion. This was a vital part of our project as many within the elderly community are religious and thus share many of the beliefs that we explored.

Hindu Perspective: Jay Lakhani

WHAT’S SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY TO A HINDU – “give me that pill!”

Jay is the director of the Hindu Academy in London, with a background in theoretical physics. Despite his scientific background, Jay has a keen interest to explore religious ideas.

According to Jay, the Hinduism, like Buddhism, falls under the Dyadic religion, which aim to understand human conditions and resolve it. Hinduism involves understanding what drives the inner man, the external world and harness them. This is in line with the purpose of science! Sourcing out the nature of reality. Hence, there is a huge similarity with the Hinduism and science. The scientific world strives to understand the world and humanity in a sophisticated manner and the results should not be shunned.

From Jay, the results seen in and gene manipulation and GMOs are positive things. Granted anything new always come with serious warning, from fire to pharmaceuticals, with synthetic biology being no exception; this is doesn’t mean that we should stop using science to understand and improve the world we live in.

Hinduism teaches us that life is not in compliance with nature, but defiance of it. Standing up against nature implies harnessing nature. Harnessing nature has enabled us to make progress and improve our world, taking us from the Stone Age to a fast growing Tech Age. Synthetic biology could be used or abused.

Unfortunately, certain religions could be limited due to fixation on certain dogmas in a fast-paced society. This challenge could be tackled by a deeper understanding of their religion and adapting this knowledge in a dynamic society. Synthetic biology is not playing God but working with nature.

With respect to our project on healthy ageing, Jay fully welcomed that idea, encouraging us not only to make it possible but asked for a prescription. He also mentioned that our project on healthy ageing would be welcomed within the Hindu community with little resistance to this kind of product.

To Jay, we need a society that encourages people to be fully aware of the opportunities science brings while encouraging them to be independent thinkers irrespective of their religious backgrounds.

Christian perspective: Pastor Randall

As part of exploring the interaction with religion and synthetic biology, we had a chat with Randall Lee, the lead pastor of C3 Church Bloomsbury, who has a background in economics and Russian studies.

In Randall’s perspective, synthetic biology is an influence on living organisms. It cannot be categorically called good or bad, as it is amoral and it just exists. However, it is our use of it that makes it either good or bad.

A question posed to Randall was if synthetic biology was a sin. According to Randall, sin is based largely on our relationship with God and ourselves. Synthetic biology is a tool, and hence it is our intention and use of it that could be called a sin or not. We were enlightened to learn that synthetic biology is not the only way we play God. Christians believe that we are made in the image of God, and this is reflected in other things such as procreation and planting trees as these involve the bringing life into the world. Randall’s view of synthetic biology is affected by his belief, as his believes stem from his religion and are not in conflict with science. Synthetic biology is a broad field, however it could be intimidating when it hinders the ability of choices and free will. A response to this barrier would be to educate people properly on synthetic biology.

Religion is a lens in which we see the world and translates to our way of life. It becomes our culture. Religion and science go hand in hand. While religion answers the questions of “who” and “why”; science answers the question of “what” and “how”. Synthetic biology could hold a complex good, and the openness could be valuable in religious communities including the Christian community. To Randall, given time and proper education, people would come to see religion and synthetic biology as a two sides of a coin which play pivotal role in humanity.

Outcome: what did we learn?

From the talks we had these past months with various religious leaders we were able to take away many experiences and impressions that have not only shaped our personal views but also the direction this project has been taken in. The most surprising part of these talks really were that in terms of our project right now, religion does not pose as much of a barrier as we had initially thought. We found that many people from religious communities embrace synthetic biology and a few are even actively involved and shaping the future of our practice. Overall this experience, with such an array of religious beliefs, has been very enlightening to all team members involved. Although this has been very beneficial a many more religions and belief systems need to be explored in the future.