In recent years there have been major breakthroughs in the science of genetics and biotechnology. The science of genetics emerged out of the pioneering work on the heritable unit in peas by an Augustinian priest, Gregor Johann Mendel (1822-1884) in Austria. Sadly, his work remained unrecognized during his life. It was not rediscovered until the beginning of the 20th century when other scientists independently obtained similar results.

Gene manipulation
By the beginning of the 1970s scientists had learned how to move genes between species that would never interact through normal breeding processes. Today plants and animals with genes taken from completely unrelated species are being engineered in the laboratories of biotechnology companies, released into the environment and sold in supermarkets.

One of the first products to reach the supermarket shelves in the United States was the Flavr Savr tomato. A gene from a flounder fish was used to slow up the ripening process in order to extend the shelf-life of the tomato. Most shoppers squeeze tomatoes before buying them to see whether they are fresh. When consumers touched the genetically engineered tomato the skin would feel quite firm and they might be misled into thinking that it was fresh when, in fact it was nothing of the sort.

Reasons for concern
Some people are fulsome in their praise of genetic engineering. They claim that biotechnology will increase food production dramatically and therefore help the poor, especially the poor in Third World countries. Others are sceptical about the motivation of the corporations that are promoting genetic engineering. They feel that it is driven not by a desire to help the poor but rather to increase the company's profits.

In the wake of the terrorist attack in the US on 11 September 2001, we must bear in mind that the information that is being discovered and used for commercial biotechnology purposes can also be used by terrorists to create new strains of germs and viruses that can attack plants, animals and humans.

Even before the events at the Twin Towers, scientists like Dr. Arpad Pusztai of Scotland's Rowell Research Institute were worried about the effects of such genetically engineered organisms on human health and on the wider environment. To date, very few resources have been made available by governments to study the health, nutritional or environmental consequences of gene manipulation.

Even those who accept that a particular genetically engineered crop will not damage human health or the environment are worried about the scramble to patent seeds, animals and living organisms which has gathered speed in recent years. They believe that over a short period of time patenting will remove many life forms from the public commons where they have served humans and other creatures for millennia.

The possibility that a small number of multinational companies will control the seeds of the world's staple crops is truly frightening. It would be the death knell for the 1,500 million subsistence farmers around the world if they were forced to buy patented seeds each year. Their livelihood would be totally undermined and they and their families would be forced off the land into already crowded cities.

A Gospel perspective
What has all the above to do with the work of Catholic missionaries? In a parable in the Gospel of St Luke a foreigner comes across a wounded man on the roadside who has been stripped of all that he had. Many of the people with whom missionaries work have few possessions, but they are precious to them. They have their own seeds, plants and herbs which their ancestors have tended and developed. These are being taken from them. For instance, there are now dozens of patents filed by foreign companies on the neam tree, so important to the poor in many countries of Asia. Local people may discover they can be taken to court for doing what they have done for centuries.

The parable of the Good Samaritan presents a way of living that is at the heart of Christian life. It invites us to reexamine our priorities and ask ourselves is there somebody who urgently needs our help – now. I have no doubt that helping to raise awareness at home and helping local communities abroad to protect themselves from the avarice of those who would take what is theirs is a modern application of the parable.