since the beginning of herding and agriculture in order to adapt them to specific human needs and environments. Genetic engineering will vastly accelerate this process. This may eliminate poverty, famine, and disease, but may also bring scourges and problems that we cannot foresee.
We are standing at the edge of a new scientific era. We certainly wish to utilize the potentials of genetic engineering for the benefit of humanity. That may be partially within our power. It is not within our power to stop the scientific experimentation. The human yearning to understand the divine creation and everything in it as fully as possible cannot be halted, nor can the desire to alleviate the problems of hunger, disease, and poverty.
As we learn more about the nature of genetic engineering, we must discuss its moral implications with regard to both animals and human beings. We realize that the line between plants, animals, and human beings is thin and in some ways does not exist at all. So we must proceed with caution. In consort with others we must set limits and provide direction. We have, of course, become especially sensitive to all of these issues since the Holocaust and the terrible medical experimentation that occurred during the Holocaust .
We may be ready to accept genetic changes made for medical purposes and experimentation, as pikuah nefesh is an overriding consideration(Shab. 132a; Yoma 85b; Tosefta Shab.17 and Alfasi; Shulhan Arukh, Orah Hayyim 328:1; Hatam Sofer Responsa Hoshen Mishpat 185). Human life must be saved if it is at all possible and even some pain to animals is permitted for this purpose. Economic reasons, however, could not justify such a course of action. They should always be reviewed carefully.
A mouse engineered genetically for a specific set of experiments, which will eventually help human beings, lies within the boundaries of utilizing animals for the benefit of human beings. Naturally the humane treatment of the animals in accordance with our tradition must be observed. It would be appropriate for Jews to be involved in this kind of genetic engineering and to use the animals that they themselves have genetically changed.