SCRIPTURE
"But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end;
many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Daniel 12;4
QUOTE
The heart has its reasons, which reason does not know.
– Blaise Pascal
SCIENCE
Why do children resemble their parents? It remained a mystery until two centuries
ago, when the Austrian monk Gregor Mendel identified the mathematical pattern
of genetic inheritance in pea plants and proposed the laws of heredity when
nothing was known about DNA. Technology has advanced so much that, 200 years
later, we can design, synthesize, and edit DNA (genes). Why do we edit genes you
may ask? The purpose of gene editing is to eliminate those genes that pass on
diseases from parents to children. Gene editing technology has enabled us to
eliminate standard drugs and repair or even cure several genetic diseases such as
sickle cell disease, thalassemia (both are hemoglobin diseases), and a group of
more than 70 rare diseases that affect the lysosome called lysosomal storage
diseases. These are chronic and life-threatening diseases which are inherited inborn
errors of metabolism caused by defects/mutations in the genes that encode
lysosomal enzymes that lead to enzyme deficiency. These enzymes break down
and help recycle carbohydrates, fats, nucleic acids, and proteins. They are
important for cell communication and homeostasis.
The November 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine reported the
treatment of a rare genetic disorder called Infantile onset Pompe disease, a rare
condition caused by genetic changes that either reduce the levels of an enzyme
(acid alpha-glucosidase, or GAA) or prevent the body from making the enzyme at
all. It can cause heart and muscle damage before birth and if left untreated, most
infants die before they turn two. Researchers have identified the disease-causing
mutation and repaired it through gene editing technology with a functional gene.
Doctors have treated this disease for the first time while the baby is still in the
womb. Enzyme treatment was given directly to the fetus. Now the child is 16
months old and living happily. However, two of his siblings died early in life
because of the disease.
LET US PONDER
This is the first of its kind in utero therapy for this disease. Earlier, three
successful children were treated for a life-threatening sweating disorder before
birth. This remarkable breakthrough brings tremendous joy and relief to each
parent's heart. People who believe in God generally assert that "God gives life and
takes life." In the book of Deuteronomy, we read “ Now see that I, even I am he,
and there there is no God but me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal ;nor is
there any who can deliver from my hand' Deuteronomy 32:39
“Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing
praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the
prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if
he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. James 5:13-15
If this is true, in the case of the 16-month-old child, why did God take away two of
her siblings for lack of technology and let this child live through because of a novel
advancement in science? Can technology triumph over the will of God? Is it
possible that the day is not for God to be laid off and apply for a new job, as the
godless proclaims or God is in control because God is the intelligence behind these
advancements as the Psalmist declares?
My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them! Psalm 139:15-17