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Science and Religion Cease Fire By Kristen Philipkoski 02:00 AM Jun. 26, 2003 PT WASHINGTON -- Science and religion came to an official understanding Wednesday. The biotech industry and the largest church organization in the country signed a pact here to open channels of communication between them about the promise and potential perils of biotechnology. Carl Feldbaum, the president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, and Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National Council of Churches, signed the agreement, saying that the organizations have the same ultimate goal: to improve the quality of life for all people. "I am not a (religiously) observant person, but that's different from being religious," Feldbaum said in an interview. "It's not inconsistent to be a person of faith and a person of science." Wednesday closed several days of meetings at the Biotechnology Industry Organization conference, which attracted biotechnology executives, politicians, scientists and reporters from around the world. Many of the meeting sessions brought together two entities that historically have been at odds: religious authorities and the biotech industry. They discussed how ethics, morality and religion are part of the scientific process. Muslim, Catholic, Episcopalian, Orthodox Jewish, Baptist and other religious leaders came together to hash out the roles they play in science. In the 1970s the American Association for the Advancement of Science declared science and religion mutually exclusive. But in recent years, leaders from the two fields increasingly have communicated and worked together on tackling big questions such as when life begins and the ethics of genetic manipulation. Two years ago at the biotech organization's annual meeting, Feldbaum promised to encourage a dialogue between scientific and religious leaders. Since then, the industry organization and religious leaders have met to discuss issues like cloning, stem-cell research and access to the remedies biotech promises. The Biotechnology Industry Organization and religious leaders organized a meeting in San Francisco in December to discuss the stem-cell issue. The conversation soon turned to global health-care equity. Now, the biotech organization is collaborating with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to create economic incentives for biotech companies researching treatments to help people in developing countries ravaged by AIDS and other diseases. Feldbaum said he realizes the political importance of consulting religious leaders in decisions on the direction of the biotech industry. "Eighty percent of Americans describe themselves as religious, and as an organization that relies on the good will of the community to be able to proceed with research, it's important for us to listen to that," Feldbaum said. "And it's the right thing to do." Edgar emphasized that if religious leaders don't jump into debates about biological science ethics, others certainly will. "We often come to issues too late, after an issue is defined by some other entity," he said. SOURCE: Wired News http://www.wired.com/news/technology/0,1282,59395,00.html * * * ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn