Genetic Engineering of God’s Animal Kingdom
                     (Image credit: Mayo Clinic)

This is a complicated topic which appears to be offering more controversy than anything else.  Scientists on a global basis have been genetically engineering farm animals with the hope of producing livestock that are much larger and resistant to disease.  Although this sounds pleasant on paper it is nothing but abject misery for the animal.  Although there has been a never ending surge of consumer protests against anything that is genetically modified for food consumption, governments on a global scale as well as their genetic researchers continue to both widen and accelerate their pace in this area.

If the cruel and long-term confinement of farm animals as well as the frequent injection of harmful drugs, many which have been banned by other nations, were not enough burden for the animals – researchers are now genetically altering their bodies to the point where they no longer represent what God called good in Genesis “And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps
on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.” (Genesis 1:25)  Let’s remember that God made each according to its kind.  God didn’t mix the DNA of a human with the DNA of an animal which is described in more detail but later in this article.  The commercial factory farmed animals whose bodies are genetically modified to produce more litters and to grow faster have a design that is now too burdensome for them to manage.  It is human selfishness.  It is cruel.  It is driven by greed.  These are not God’s methods and there is no further excuse to support what is so obviously evil.

“A world in which chickens with such explosive growth they have to be starved lest they risk cardiac rupture. “Double-muscled” calves born into the beef industry so freakishly huge that they can only be extracted via Caesarian section.  A hen laying so many eggs that she risks a prolapse–laying her own uterus.  A cow capable of generating ten times more milk than a calf could ever suckle. Imagine a world in which turkeys are so top-heavy they are physically incapable of mating.” (34)

Animal welfare advocates and the general public are already protesting the genetically engineered poultry (broilers) that are manipulated to grow abnormally fast.  An inordinately high number of poultry are born with birth defects and aberrant pathologies.  The birds cannot support their own weight and the rapid growth has resulted in frequent heart failures for many chickens.  These genetically altered birds are unable to cope with such robust growth and must oftentimes be starved in order to save them.  Videos show birds experiencing heart attacks where their red bulbous hearts protrude and pound outside their chests prior to death.  Today’s factory farms provide a setting of filth and darkness to these pitiful broilers where the survivors eventually make it to your dinner plate.

According to Karen Davis, Phd, United Poultry Concerns in her article titled, “Genetic Engineering and Cloning of Domestic Fowl” she states that Lesley J. Rogers, avian specialist, aims at “blunting” the minds of the animals so that they are no longer aware of the misery that mankind has imposed on them in today’s factory farm environments.  Blunting their minds actually translates to removing their minds altogether.  Davis quotes Lesley Rogers as saying, “so blunted that they will passively accept overcrowded housing conditions and having virtually nothing to do but eat—and then to eat standard and boring food delivered automatically” (p. 185).

Oath of God Ministries condemns this research practice as being potentially harmful to humans and grossly inhumane to God’s creation. Separately, British researcher Helen Sang has developed chickens infused with human DNA that contains proteins that can fight skin cancer.  Its usefulness, however, has never proven successful.  Richard Gray, Science Correspondent for The Telegraph wrote a 4/2/2011 article titled, “Genetically Modified Cows Produce ‘Human’ Milk” stating “China is now leading the way in research on genetically modified food and the rules on the technology are more relaxed than those in place in Europe.  The scientists have successfully introduced human genes into 300 dairy cows to produce milk with the same properties as human breast milk.  Scientists insist genetically modified foods are unlikely to pose a threat to food safety and in the United States consumers have been eating genetically modified foods for many decades.  However, during two experiments by the Chinese researchers, which resulted in 42 transgenic calves being born, just 26 of the animals survived after ten died shortly after birth, most with gastrointestinal disease, and a further six died within six months of birth.

Richard Gray further writes, “Researchers accept that the cloning technology used in genetic modification can affect the development and survival of cloned animals, although the reason why is not well understood.”(35)   Oath of God Ministries believes that answer rests with God Almighty since He alone is the Creator and researchers are tampering with both animal and human DNA which resides in the blood.  God makes it perfectly clear to the entire universe that “life is in the blood” for both man and animal and He created each one according to its own kind.  In a separate issue in Great Britain, “Figures seen by the Daily Mail show that 155 ‘admixed’ embryos, containing both human and animal genetic material, have been created since the introduction of the 2008 Human Fertilization Embryology Act.  This legalized the creation of a variety of hybrids, including an animal egg fertilized by a human sperm; ‘cybrids’, in which a human nucleus is implanted into an animal cell; and ‘chimeras’, in which human cells are mixed with animal embryos” according to Mail Online, dated July 22, 2011 titled “150 human animal hybrids grown in UK labs: Embryos have been produced secretively for the past three years”.

Josephine Quintavalle, of pro-life group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, believes “The problem with many scientists is that they want to do things because they want to experiment. That is not a good enough rationale.”(36)  Lord Alton who argued in Parliament against the creation of human- animal hybrids stated, “None of the scientists who appeared before us could give us any justification in terms of treatment.”(37)   Some researchers do agree that stricter controls will be needed in the future where animal embryos are implanted with a small amount of human genetic material.

Consumers across the globe are protesting against anything that is genetically modified.  According to a June 2013 ABC News poll – 93 percent of Americans support mandatory labels on foods containing GMOs, 57% are less likely to buy GM foods and 62% believe GMO foods are unsafe.((38)   It is a sore spot for consumers and it is changing grocery shelves across the world.  The average consumer no longer wants to consume GMO produce or GM animals. 

There has been an ongoing debate over the validity of a study done by French scientists which showed that GMO foods (genetically modified Organisms) do cause cancer in research animals.  The researchers used 200 albino Sprague-Dawley rats – 100 hundred females and 100 males as their animal model. Michelle Castillo, CBS News Correspondent writes in her 9/21/2012 article titled Study Says Genetically Modified Corn Causes Tumors, but Other Scientists Skeptical About Research writes “The results showed that female rats were two to three times more likely to die than the control group. Fifty percent of the males and 70 percent of the females eating Monsanto GM maize died earlier compared to 30 percent of males and 20 percent of females not eating genetically modified products.  Female rats seemed to be more negatively affected by genetically modified corn diets whether it was sprayed with Roundup or not.” The photographs of tumor riddled rats have had an impact on consumers worldwide.

The debate continues and additional studies are taking place to confirm the data.  We do know that Americans have been eating genetically modified crops for decades now, that no cure for cancer exists and that many Americans continue to die of cancer but whether or not this is caused by GMO foods is yet to be determined.  When in doubt, buy organic produce, and 100% grass fed or pasture-raised animal and poultry meat with the label “Animal Welfare Approved”.

In 2007 South Korean scientists genetically altered a cat’s DNA which caused it to glow in the dark. Other cats were cloned from it. This effort was duplicated by US scientists in 2008 to help find cures for diseases like cystic fibrosis although it has not resulted in any current breakthrough.

“Separately, human babies have already been genetically modified by researchers.  “The disclosure that 30 healthy babies were born after a series of experiments in the United States provoked another furious debate about ethics.  So far, two of the babies have been tested and have been found to contain genes from three ‘parents’.  Fifteen of the children were born in the past three years as a result of one experimental program at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey.  The babies were born to women who had problems conceiving.  Extra genes from a female donor were inserted into their eggs before they were fertilized in an attempt to enable them to conceive.  Genetic fingerprint tests on two one-year-old children confirm that they have inherited DNA from three adults –two women and one man.”(39)   ABC News also reported on the 30 cases

Unlike genetically modified crops or livestock, this study simply took mitochondria from two female sources but the genes were never altered although some of these children now show genes from two females and one male.  In the future it is quite possible that researchers will be altering human genes prior to fertilization with the objective of creating human models who are resistant to disease.  According to scientists the newborns may not look like their parents but they’ll be healthier and have the opportunity to live longer.

In 2015 the UK became the first country to approve laws to allow the creation of babies from three people.

Clearly genetics is the research frontier which genetic scientists believe will eliminate disease, provide robust crops, breed enormous livestock, and create human DNA that is resistant to disease.  To some extent genetics is taking on a new Darwinian twist which aims at creating a perfect race of humans and according to the scientist speeds up the evolutionary process. Back To Top