[escepticos] ¿Talmud transgénico?

[Josep Catala <jcatala@...>]

¿Cómo se interpretan los organismos/alimentos modificados genéticamente
("transgénicos") desde la ortodoxia (más o menos) de la religion judía? ¿O
no se interpretan? Pasen y lean lo que me acaba de remitir un biotecnólogo
de pro...

Saludos ebúrneo-religiosos.

Josep Català

_____________El Talmud es el Talmud y el maíz es el maíz____________

> Genetically Manipulated Plants: Ethical and Religious Issues
>
> SCOPE GM Food Controversy Forum (1 November) (reprinted with permission
> from the author)
> http://scope.educ.washington.edu/gmfood/commentary/show.php?author=Galun.
>
> Esra Galun, Professor, Department of Plant Sciences, Weizmann Institute of
> Science, Rehovot 76100, Israel; E-mail: esra.galun en weizmann.ac.il
>
> This contribution to the debate on genetically modified foods focuses on
> genetic manipulations of flowering plants aimed at improving crops and
> manufacturing medical products; it does not describe methodologies or
> progress toward producing such transgenic crops. Two books have been
> published that provide information on those topics (1, 2).
>
> This essay discusses some of the ethical-religious issues surrounding
> transgenic plants. The ethical consequences of genetic engineering are the
> subject of a book by Russo and Cove (3). This essay is not comprehensive
> but is intended to serve as a basis for further detailed discussions.
> ... is [it] ethical for humans to [engage in] manipulations that lead to
> production of transgenic plants, and [is it] ethical for humans to consume
> transgenic plants....
>
> The ethical-philosophical-religious issue may be separated into two
> components: (i) whether it is ethical for humans to be engaged in
> manipulations that lead to production of transgenic plants, and (ii)
> whether it is ethical for humans to consume transgenic plants (or the
> products derived from them). It can be argued that genetic manipulation
> performed for research purposes (the majority) should be considered
> separately from genetic manipulation to produce plants for human
> consumption, because research activity does not impose a threat to the
> human diet or to the environment. But for people of certain faiths, such
> as the Jewish religion, the question of whether humans are permitted to
> interfere with God's creation is a legitimate one that extends to
> transgenic plants used for biological research. I will return to the
> question of production and focus first on the question of consumption that
> is relevant to all potential users.
>
> For many centuries the division of nature by Aristo into four distinct
> groups was widely accepted. He grouped nature into nonliving entities
> (e.g., rocks), plants, nonspeaking animals, and speaking animals (humans).
> Humans were considered supreme and were ethically permitted to handle the
> other groups in any manner they liked for their benefit. The Hellenic
> philosophers did not restrict the diet of either nonspeaking or speaking
> animals. Any organism was considered to have its normal heritable nature.
> Thus, the nature of a lion is to kill and eat deer and gazelles. But the
> prophet Isaiah (Chapter 11) predicted a change in the lion's diet when
> peace and wisdom will prevail in the world: "... and the lion shall eat
> straw like the ox."
> (... can the consumption of plants that express human genes be considered
> cannibalism, can vegetarians consume plants that express animal genes....)
>
> We are still far from such days, and in the United Kingdom (as well as in
> some other European countries) oxen and cows were fed carcasses of other
> (not transgenic!) ruminants with the catastrophic result of mad cow
> disease. In 1993, the British government nominated a committee on the
> "Ethics of Genetic Modification and Food Use" [see the paper by Aldridge
> (4) about this committee]. The committee handled mainly the ethics of
> introducing human and animal genes into organisms that are used as food:
> can the consumption of plants that express human genes be considered
> cannibalism, can vegetarians consume plants that express animal genes, and
> what about dietary restrictions for people who avoid eating certain
> animals? The chairman of this committee was the Reverend Dr. John
> Polkinghorne. I am not aware of a government report resulting from the
> committee's deliberations, but several regulations concerning compulsory
> labeling of transgenic foods have been enforced by the British government.
> (... the choice of whether to consume specific foods resulting from
> genetic manipulation was left to ... the public.... But the public is not
> well informed about genetic manipulation and transgenic plants.)
>
> Hence, the choice of whether to consume specific foods resulting from
> genetic manipulation was left to individuals in the public. This is the
> heart of the matter. The public is given the choice, is permitted to
> express its concern, and is even allowed to convince its representatives
> to ban transgenic plants. But the public is not well informed about
> genetic manipulation and transgenic plants. A poll in several European
> countries indicated that most people who were asked stated that they never
> ate DNA! Therefore, as public acceptance is a decisive issue, it is urgent
> that the public be educated and well informed. Currently, we are in a
> situation in which the public is being manipulated by interest groups.
> Will we reach the stage at which we accept public opinion only from those
> individuals who have passed a test of basic knowledge of the issue of
> genetic manipulation?
>
> Not all people who follow a vegetarian diet can be included in one
> coherent group. Some abstain from eating meat because of health
> considerations and others do so because of ethical considerations or
> religious faith. Moreover, some people consume eggs and dairy products
> (and even fish) but avoid animal meat. For each of these subgroups the
> question of whether to consume plants that express animal genes may have
> different answers.Moreover, as the weaving of flax fibers with wool fibers
> into one cloth is not permitted, the use of fibers from transgenic flax
> that expresses sheep genes may be questioned.
>
> The Jewish (orthodox) religion has very detailed laws about foods--not
> only which kinds of food are permitted or not permitted but also which
> combinations of food are allowed in the same meal. The laws also regulate
> production of food (e.g., regulations concerning grafting, breeding,
> growing two different crops in the same field, and even using two
> different animals in a team for plowing). Moreover, as the weaving of flax
> fibers with wool fibers into one cloth is not permitted, the use of fibers
> from transgenic flax that expresses sheep genes may be questioned.
>
> True, adherence to these laws concerns only a small minority of the
> world's population but here we have an example of religious concern about
> genetic modification. This subject was recently described by Goldschmidt
> and Maoz (5). Interestingly, the Jewish religion, which is very detailed
> and strict about dietary matters (kosher regulations), stresses the issue
> of production instead of the issue of consumption (wheat and barley are
> not to be planted in the same field, but once the field is harvested Jews
> are allowed to consume the crops).
> (... Goldschmidt and Maoz [suggest that] production of transgenic plants
> ... is permissible if ... there is no direct Halacha against it, and [if
> the] activity is expected to benefit humans.)
>
> Two aspects of production are relevant to Jewish religious laws: (i)
> whether genetic engineering can be considered as interference with God's
> creation, and (ii) whether the transfer of genes from one species to
> another constitutes a nonpermissible cross-breeding (kilayim). The first
> aspect is interesting because the Jerusalem Gmara (part of the Oral Bible)
> predicted the ability of humans to cause vast changes in organisms. Rabbi
> Yehoshua Ben Hananya said: "I could take melons and water-melons and
> convert them into deer and gazelles and these deer and gazelles will breed
> deer and gazelles." Jewish religious scholars are not very clear and
> detailed about the subject of interference with God's creation. The very
> respected Maharal (Rabbi Yehuda Leob Ben Bezalel, 1518-1607) claimed that
> God created creatures in a fully functional and beautiful form; on the
> other hand, the task (and purpose) of humans is to further improve the
> world. The consideration of benefit to humans is a major one in the Jewish
> Halacha (the Jewish law). Searching the Halacha, Goldschmidt and Maoz (5)
> arrived at an interim suggestion about the question of permissibility of
> interfering with God's creation in the production of transgenic plants.
> They suggest that this production is permissible if the following two
> conditions are met: (i) there is no direct Halacha against it, and (ii)
> the activity is expected to benefit humans.
>
> The second condition is interesting because it indicates that transgenic
> plants for better food, better feed, better crops, and medical products
> are permissible, but producing transgenic plants for biological
> experiments that are not obviously leading to an advantage to humanity may
> not be permitted--unless we accept the philosophy that increased knowledge
> improves humanity.
>
> References
> 1. Galun, E., and Breiman, A. (1997) Transgenic Plants. London: Imperial
> College Press.
> 2. Galun, E., and Galun, E. (2000) Manufacture of Medical and Health
> Products by Transgenic Plants. London: Imperial College Press.
> 3. Russo, E., and Cove, D. (1994) Genetic Engineering: Dreams and
> Nightmares. Oxford: Freeman.    [Return to text]
> 4. Aldridge, S. (1994) Ethically sensitive genes and the consumer. Trends
> Biotechnol. 12: 71-72.
> 5. Goldschmidt, E., and Maoz, A. (1999) Genetic engineering in
> plants--scientific background and Halacha aspects. Asia 17: 50-65 (in
> Hebrew).
>
> -----------
> How to cite this item: Galun, E. (2000) Genetically manipulated plants:
> Ethical and religious issues. SCOPE GM Food Controversy Forum (1 November)
> scope.educ.washington.edu/gmfood/commentary/show.php?author=Galun.
> =====
>
> Esra Galun received his Ph.D. in 1959. He is a staff member of the
> Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel, where he became Associate
> Professor (1968) and Professor (1972), heading the Department of Plant
> Genetics (1970-1988) and serving as Dean of Biology (1988-1991). He was a
> postdoctoral fellow at Caltech (Pasadena, California) and spent several
> sabbatical periods (Harvard University; U.S. Department of Agriculture,
> Beltsville, Maryland; Roche Institute for Molecular Biology) in the United
> States. His research interests range from sex expression in plants to
> plant molecular biology. He has published 180 reviewed papers and invited
> reviews as well as two books; a third book (by E. Galun and E. Galun),
> Manufacture of Medical and Health Products by Transgenic Plants, published
> by the Imperial College Press, will appear in December 2000.
>
> (The material in these comments reflects the individual views of the
> author(s) and does not necessarily reflect those of SCOPE, its members, or
> institutions with which SCOPE is affiliated. The SCOPE site serves as a
> forum for discussion and presentation of individual points of view. The
> material may have been edited for clarity, but it is not peer-reviewed)