By Sharon Kean

The Bible doesn’t oppose GM crops, but it doesn’t encourage them either. "It’s not natural to cross a fish with a tomato, but GM does not do this," said Professor Joe Perry from Rothamsted Research as he addressed the question of whether manufacturing GM crops went against God’s will. At the opening event of the Science and Religion Forum’s annual conference at the BA Festival of Science, his task was to facilitate a debate about religion’s position in one of the most controversial topics in contemporary science.

John Bryant, professor of cell biology at the University of Exeter, took on the role of questioner. Perry considered firstly whether the Bible offers any explicit guidance on the matter, and secondly, whether it goes against God’s role as a creator. Using Judaism as an example, he explained that rabbis have no problem with GM as, "even if the GM event were against the kosher law, which it is not, that event only happens once." The fact that the offspring of modified plants are produced "naturally" seems to make everything OK.

Referring to a passage from the book of Leviticus, Perry discussed how the idea of crossing different species of cattle was frowned upon by the Bible. He also mentioned Prince Charles’ disapproval of all things GM because they oppose nature, before clarifying that such views contradict the coexistence of science and religion. It was at this point that the focus started to blur and the religious side of the debate seemed to be cast aside.

With the lecture theatre nearly full by the start, Professor Joe Perry had somewhat nervously admitted that there were several people present who probably knew more about the subject of GM than he did himself. Unfortunately none of these seemed to want to contribute to the debate when it was opened up to the floor, and the discussion focused heavily on whether GM food was beneficial or harmful to society. God’s will was temporarily forgotten as members of the audience went off on their own particular tangents, culminating with a heated exchange between a doctor and a health worker about the MMR fiasco.

The Bible claims that God told Adam, "From now you will work with the sweat of your brow," as he directed him to live from the land that He had created. So it seems that religion has left the GM debate in our hands, placing the responsibility of our actions firmly with those who use the technology. However, as Bryant cautiously noted, "When the Bible was written, technologies such as GM were not around."