Bioterror scare won’t halt advance of science

IN response to your editorial headlined ‘Scientific advances – Is man ready to play God?’ (May 22), you seem to believe a new era of bioterrorism is upon us.

Don’t fret – bioterrorism has always existed. A simple example was in medieval times – catapulting pestilent corpses over city walls whereby the besieged populations would succumb to the diseases present in the corpses.

So, in that regard, this sensationalist approach screaming for legislation to inhibit the propagation of synthetic biotherapies is unfounded. If making or designing a biological therapy was so simple the few major players in this field worldwide wouldn’t exist (Pfizer, Astra Zantec, IPSEN, etc).

It takes mountains (read billions) of money to design a cell that has an effect on people. That effect also needs to be studied (read millions more in clinical trials). I cannot see a terrorist group ever with the resources or the patience for clinical trials to see the effects of their new design.

So, please avoid these types of brainless editorials. What has happened lately is a great thing. For example, manipulating certain cells inherent defective responses could stop brain degeneration in some people, and that’s only one example of the kind of benefit that a synthetic cell could bestow. Remember many of the drugs you take, once you receive a prescription from your doctor, are in fact synthetic, but because they have been available for years you graciously accept the treatment even though there is nothing natural about these substances.

We in Ireland are in a knowledge economy. There are many engineers and scientists who can design and manufacture synthetics both biological (with funding) and inert (synthetic chemicals). This latter industry is dying in Ireland as these are difficult to design, but cheap to manufacture and simple to copy.

They need support, not uninformed criticism.

Man has always played god, for there is no higher being. In our goodness to each other the world will prosper, but to wait on the teachings of prophets will benefit the world never.

God is dead. Long live science.

John Harrington

Kilmacud

Dublin