One of the reasons I enjoyed the America250 celebrations of recent weeks is that we have been reminded of God’s blessings on our nation and of the many ways he has used us to bless the world.

President Ronald Reagan noted that if you could condense the entire history of life on Earth into a motion picture that ran for twenty-four hours, the United States wouldn’t appear on the screen until 3.5 seconds before midnight. But in those 3.5 seconds, he stated, Americans “would perform such miracles of invention, construction, and production as the world has never seen.”

One such “miracle” is in the news these days: according to CNN, “Scientists say they have built a cell from scratch for the first time.” If you’re like me, three questions immediately emerge:

What have they actually done?

What does this mean for the future?

Is this playing God?

What have scientists done?

Kate Adamala is a synthetic biologist and professor at the University of Minnesota. She and her team say they have built a cell from scratch for the first time that can feed, grow, and replicate like a natural cell.

They constructed their cell piece by piece from nonliving chemical components. It grows and replicates for about five generations. It is made up of 150 to 200 molecules, which is far less complex than a biological cell that holds millions, if not billions, of molecules.

Each generation the cell produces requires feeding and is unable to evolve naturally. Dr. Adamala described the synthetic cell as “an incredibly wimpy organism that right now basically does nothing other than to eat and occasionally make a daughter cell.” As one biochemist said, the synthetic cell is not “life created in the lab” but a “genuine milestone on the road toward that question.”

Another commented, “We don’t totally understand life—far from it. We don’t have an all-powerful ability to manipulate matter to make stuff. I would say Kate has constructed a cell. I don’t think she’s created life.”

What does this mean for the future?

The CNN article notes that the human body has thirty-seven trillion cells, more than the number of stars in the sky, and that scientists still don’t know how every different cell type works or even what exactly they contain. Dr. Adamala said of her synthetic cell, “It’s just the beginning. It’s a chassis that we’re hoping to build on, and that’s significant, because now we actually can have some reasonable idea of how to build on it.”

She and her team have made their work available to other researchers. Their hope is that the cell will become a shared global standard for synthetic cell biology.

In its current form, the synthetic cell does not pose biosafety risks and could not be used to manufacture a biological weapon. But it could help scientists better understand the way cells form and function, perhaps ushering in an era of made-to-order organisms that function like living machines.

Is this playing God?

Whether this synthetic cell will—or even can—lead to cells that perform like those created by God is an open question. The question before us today is whether it should.

As the resident scholar for ethics with a major nonprofit healthcare organization, I often focus on the pillars of biomedical ethics: autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice. Stated briefly:

• Autonomy asks if the patient has the capacity and agency to make informed decisions about their care. With regard to cells created in a lab, such capacity is obviously lacking. However, if these cells are not yet “life,” this issue is irrelevant.
• Beneficence asks what benefits a particular medical or scientific act might bring.
• Nonmaleficence asks what harm this might produce.
• Justice asks if this is ethical for society at large. Does the benefit outweigh the cost? Who decides its use? To whom will it be available? Who sets ethical guardrails in place?

However, we live in a postmodern, relativistic culture to which the prophet’s description applies: “Truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter” (Isaiah 59:14). We have rejected absolute truth and objective morality, opting for tolerance as our highest value.

Consequently, with regard to synthetic cells, we might claim that such advances are ethical in that they could benefit public health, or we might warn that they could be engineered for malevolent purposes. We might claim that they will benefit all of society, akin to penicillin and similar breakthroughs, or we might allege that they will benefit only those who can afford them.

“The whole earth be filled with his glory”

In many ways, our technology has outstripped our ethics. From AI to nuclear proliferation to biomedical engineering and genetic manipulation, we have more tools capable of destroying us than ever before.

As a society, we need the wisdom only our all-knowing, all-loving Lord can offer. Our future as a nation is consequently tied to spiritual awakening, not just with regard to our individual souls but also to our collective survival and flourishing.

The good news is that the living Lord Jesus is as available to our nation today as he was when our nation was founded. John Hancock, whose outsized signature I read recently on the original Declaration of Independence, prayed “that all may bow to the scepter of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the whole earth be filled with his glory.”

Will you make his prayer yours today?

Quote for the day:

“Being a Christian is a character which I prize far above all this world has or can boast.” —Patrick Henry

Our latest website resources:

• Why the Strait of Hormuz echoes an unpredictable war
• American drone boats attack an Iranian submarine
• President Trump responds to Iranian death threats
• Should I open a Trump Account for my kids? Stewarding our children and generational investment
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Denison Forum

Practical advice and the story behind the story

If I lived in South Carolina, I would likely write today about Darline Graham Nordone, the sister of Lindsey Graham who was appointed Monday to finish his Senate term. If I lived in Minnesota, I might focus on wildfires threatening a tourist area there.

But since I live in one of the thirty-one states where cyclosporiasis has been reported, I’m focusing on this parasitic outbreak. I won’t describe in detail the symptoms of this gastrointestinal illness, but suffice it to say you don’t want it.

As a result, the Washington Post advises us to:

• Wash our hands with soap and water before and after handling or preparing raw vegetables and fruit.
• Wash all vegetables and fruit thoroughly under running water before cutting, cooking, or eating.
• Scrub melons, cucumbers, and other firm fruits with a clean produce brush.

The article I’m referencing has other advice for specific foods as well.

By now, you may be grateful for the practical help I’ve provided, but you’re wondering why I’m providing it. You wouldn’t read my Daily Article for gastrointestinal advice any more than I would read the American Journal of Gastroenterology for theological insights.

It’s the story behind the story that interests me. The less relevant we consider it to be, the more relevant it becomes.

How parsley caused an outbreak

The reason public health officials have not been able to stop the cyclosporiasis outbreak is that they have not yet identified its source. One expert said, “We know there has to be a source people are being exposed to—a contaminated food or product. It’s not spread person to person.”

The problem is that there is a lag of two days to two weeks between when people consume the parasite causing the illness and when symptoms appear. Remembering what groceries patients consumed or restaurants they ate at can be difficult. The US food distribution system is so vast and complex that a single supplier may provide different types of produce to stores.

And a contaminated food item can be incorporated into a variety of foods. Last year, for example, a cyclospora outbreak that sickened dozens of people was linked to parsley that was part of a salad.

So, we have a widespread number of people with a widespread number of symptoms that can be treated symptomatically, but until officials identify the source, the outbreak is likely to continue.

Man nearly sucked out of airplane window

For those who read the news through a biblical lens, symptoms of moral illness are everywhere. From movies that normalize “open relationships” (adultery) to books about a single mother’s sex life to criminalizing prayer for those struggling with sexual dysphoria, we see a society in cultural chaos.

Sometimes the source of a problem is obvious. For example, a wife held her husband’s legs to keep him from being sucked out of an airplane’s broken cabin window. When his head was protruding from the aircraft, no one wondered why he was in danger or what to do about it.

But unless you’re looking in the right place to find the source of a moral illness, you won’t find it.

God has clearly identified the cause of our cultural chaos: fallen humans “stubbornly follow their own evil heart” (Jeremiah 3:17), but “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9).

As a result, Scripture commands us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV, my emphasis). The New Century Version translates the verse, “Be careful what you think, because your thoughts run your life.” Marcus Aurelius was more biblical than he knew when he observed, “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.”

So, how do you “guard your heart”?

“A man after my heart, who will do all my will”

Jesus said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). However, as C. S. Lewis noted in The Problem of Pain, “It is safe to tell the pure in heart that they shall see God, for only the pure in heart want to.”

The issue, then, has to do with what our heart wants. And fallen humans have heart disease. From crime to war to sexual immorality, we want what we want more than what God wants.

I am no different. Even when I do what God wants, my underlying hope is often to coerce him into then blessing what I want. Paul’s admission resonates with me: “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out” (Romans 7:18).

I want to be like David, whom the Lord described as “a man after my heart, who will do all my will” (Acts 13:22). As a result, I need to make his prayer mine each day: “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10).

Will you join me today?

Quote for the day:

“If you are looking for the way by which you should go, take Christ, because he himself is the way.” —Thomas Aquinas

Our latest website resources:

• President Trump responds to Iranian death threats
• Should I open a Trump Account for my kids? Stewarding our children and generational investment
• How Asbury Seminary modeled truth and love in UMC departure: An example of gracefully standing firm on biblical sexuality
• The Christian case for being uncomfortably hot
• CS Lewis, Robert Sloan, and Rahab: Faithful obedience and the providence of place

Denison Forum