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CHAPTER 050

Rob Bellarminosmiled reassuringly. “Just ignore the cameras,” he said to the kids. They had set up in the school library of George Washington High in Silver Spring, Maryland. Three semicircles of chairs around a central chair, where Dr. Bellarmino sat while he talked to the students about the ethical issues of genetics.

The TV people had three cameras going, one at the back of the room, one at the side, close on Bellarmino, and one facing the kids, to record their expressions of fascination as they heard about the life of a working geneticist at the NIH. According to the show’s producer, it was important to show Bellarmino’s interaction with the community, and he could not have agreed more. The kids were specially picked to be bright and knowledgeable.

He thought it would be fun.

He spoke about his background and training for a few minutes, and then took questions. The first one made him pause. “Dr. Bellarmino,” a young Asian girl asked, “what is your opinion of that woman in Texas who cloned her dead cat?”

In fact, Bellarmino thought the whole dead-cat business was ridiculous. He thought it diminished the important work he and others were doing. But he couldn’t say that.

“Of course, this is a difficult, emotional situation,” Bellarmino said diplomatically. “We are all fond of our pets, but…” He hesitated. “This work was done by a California company called Genetic Savings and Clone, and it was reported that the cost was fifty thousand dollars.”

“Do you think it’s ethical to clone a pet cat?” the girl asked.

“As you know,” he said, “quite a few animals have now been cloned, including sheep, mice, dogs, and cats. So it has become rather unremarkable…One concern is that a cloned animal does not have the same life span as a normal animal.”

Another student said, “Is it ethical to pay fifty thousand dollars to clone a pet, when so many people are starving in the world?”

Bellarmino groaned inwardly. How was he going to change the subject? “I am not enthusiastic about this procedure,” he said. “But I would not go so far as to call it unethical.”

“Isn’t it unethical because it makes a climate of normality to clone a human being?”

“I don’t think cloning a pet has any effect on the issues concerning human cloning.”

“Would it be ethical to clone a human being?”

“Fortunately,” Bellarmino said, “that issue is quite far in the future. Today, I hope we might consider real contemporary issues. We have people who express concerns about genetically modified foods; we have concerns about gene therapy, and stem cells; and these are real issues. Do any of you share that concern?” A young boy in the back raised his hand. “Yes?”

“Do you think it is possible to clone a human being?” the boy asked.

“Yes, I think it is possible. Not now, but eventually.”

“When?”

“I wouldn’t want to guess when. Are there questions on a different subject?” Another hand. “Yes?”

“In your opinion, is human cloning unethical?”

Again, Bellarmino hesitated. He was acutely aware his response was going to be broadcast on television. And who could know how the network would edit his remarks? They’d probably do their best to make him look as bad as possible. Reporters had a distinct prejudice against people of faith. And his words also carried professional weight, because he ran a division of NIH.

“You’ve probably heard a lot about cloning, and most of it is untrue. Speaking as a scientist, I must admit I see nothing inherently wrong with cloning. I see no moral issue. It is just another genetic procedure. We already have done it with a variety of animals, as I have mentioned. However, I also know that the procedure of cloning has a high failure rate. Many animals die before one is successfully cloned. Clearly that would be unacceptable for human beings. So, for the moment, I regard cloning as a non-problem.”

“Isn’t cloning playing God?”

“I personally wouldn’t define the issue that way,” he said. “If God has made human beings, and made the rest of the world, then clearly God has made the tools of genetic engineering. So, in that sense, God has already made genetic modification available. That is the work of God, not man. And, as always, it is up to us to use wisely what God has given us.” He felt better after this; it was one of his stock answers.

“So is cloning a wise use of what God has given us?”

Against his every instinct, he wiped his forehead with the sleeve of his jacket. He hoped they wouldn’t use that bit of film, although he was sure they would. Young kids sweat the head of NIH. “Some people think they know what God intends,” he said. “But I don’t believe I know. I don’t believe anyone can know that, except God. I think anyone who says he knows God’s intention is showing a lot of very human ego.”

He wanted to glance at his watch, but he didn’t. The kids were looking quizzical, not enraptured, as he had expected.

“There’s a great range of genetic issues,” he said. “Let’s move on.”

“Dr. Bellarmino,” said a kid to the left, “I wanted to ask about antisocial personality disorder. I’ve read there is a gene for it, and it’s associated with violence and crime, sociopathic behavior…”

“Yes, that’s true. The gene appears in about two percent of the population around the world.”

“What about New Zealand? It is in thirty percent of the white New Zealand population, and sixty percent of the Maori population…”

“That’s been reported, but you must be careful-”

“But doesn’t that mean violence is hereditary? I mean, shouldn’t we be trying to get rid of this gene, the way we got rid of smallpox?”

Bellarmino paused. He was starting to wonder how many of these kids had parents who worked in Bethesda. He hadn’t thought to ask for the names of the kids in advance. But the questions from these kids were too knowledgeable, too relentless. Was one of his many enemies trying to discredit him, by using these kids? Was the whole network plan a trap to make him look bad? The first step toward pushing him out of NIH? This was the information age; it was how such things were done today. Arrange to make you look bad, make you look weak. Push you to say something foolish, and then watch your words repeated over and over for the next forty-eight hours on every cable news show and in every newspaper column. Next, have congressmen call for you to retract your statements. Clucking tongues, shaking heads…How could he be so insensitive? Was he really suited for the job? Wasn’t he really a liability at his post?

And then you were out.

That was how it was done, these days.

Now Bellarmino was facing a dangerously loaded question about Maori genetics. Should he say what he really believed, and risk being accused of demeaning a downtrodden ethnic minority? Did he mute his comments, but still risk criticism for promoting eugenics? How, actually, could he say anything at all?

He decided he couldn’t. “You know,” he said, “that’s an extremely interesting area of research, but we just don’t know enough yet to answer. Next question?”