By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, D.C., July 9, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) – President Barack Obama has nominated acclaimed geneticist and leader of the Human Genome Project, Dr. Francis S. Collins, to become the next chief of the National Institutes of Health. The appointment of Collins, a scientist and evangelical Christian who has defended the inherent compatibility of science and religious belief, comes just two days after the NIH released its guidelines governing human embryonic stem-cell (hESC) research.
“My administration is committed to promoting scientific integrity and pioneering scientific research and I am confident that Dr. Francis Collins will lead the NIH to achieve these goals,” said President Obama in a statement.
Collins earned fame as a gene hunter upon joining the University of Michigan, pioneering a gene identification technique called “positional cloning.” Beginning in 1993, Collins directed the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), an institute under the NIH, until his resignation as its chief in 2008. His most noteworthy contribution during that time was his leadership of the Human Genome Project, which mapped the genetic sequences of 3.1 billion chemical base pairs in human DNA.
The NIH, headquartered in Bethsaida, Maryland, this year will dedicate 40 billion dollars for scientific research, which will now be available to scientists involved in hESCR. Obama has repealed a November 2001 executive order from former President George W. Bush that allowed federal funds only to researchers to working with existing stem-cell lines derived from destroyed human embryos.
Under new NIH guidelines, hESC researchers may apply for federal funding once they have demonstrated that the hESCs they derive are obtained from human embryos created solely for reproductive purposes at fertility clinics, and that the embryos are donated by their parents with “voluntary and informed consent.”
Pro-life critics of the NIH guidelines have pointed out that the regulations do not specify enough against the creation of “chimeras” (hybrid human-animal embryos) and have stated that the NIH guidelines are widening the path to embryo-farming for the sake of scientific research (see coverage here).
The Senate confirmation of Collins as NIH director will likely be a smooth process. Collins supported the presidential campaign of Barack Obama and lauded the President's decision to repeal the Bush administration ban on funding new hESC lines. He has also voiced support for “therapeutic human cloning” or somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT), whereby the nucleus of a human egg is replaced with the DNA of an individual, resulting in the creation of a clone embryo of that individual. Collins has speculated that stem-cells extracted from an individual's clone would not face immune rejection problems inherent with other hESC therapies.
Collins has also stated that little if any ethical controversy surrounds adult stem-cell research, making it appear that the new NIH-chief will be supportive of that research as well.
However, despite Collins's support for hESC research and SCNT, his high-profile defense of the compatibility of science and religious belief has drawn fire from certain quarters that insist his religious views make his commitment to science suspect. According to the New York Times, some have “privately expressed unease” over Collins's “very public embrace of religion,” although the paper did not name any specific individuals.
Collins has written a book called “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief” and has given talks, such as to the American Scientific Affiliation, explaining his life-changing conversion as a 27-year-old scientist, which was due in part to his encounter with C.S. Lewis's book “Mere Christianity.”
While a staunch opponent of atheistic Darwinian evolution (Collins has debated Richard Dawkins, author of the “God Delusion”), Collins does not identify himself with the Intelligence Design movement, but instead describes himself as a “theistic evolutionist.”
Collins is also the founder and president of the BioLogos Foundation, an educational organization which seeks to promote the harmony existing between science and faith, and educate the public of scientific evidence in nature that points to a Creator.
As an expert on genetic research, Collins has also dismissed the claim of a “gay” gene: that DNA predetermines homosexual behaviors. Instead Collins has noted that environment – including childhood experiences – can influence gene expression leading to a predisposition, but free will and choice have a role in determining a person's behavior.
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
New NIH Guidelines Give Scientists Green Light for Embryonic Stem Cell Research
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2009/jul/09070814.html
From “Obnoxious Atheist” to Believer: Journey of World Famous Scientist who Cracked the Human Genome
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/jun/06061203.html
“Homosexuality Is Not Hardwired,” Concludes Head of The Human Genome Project
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2007/mar/07032003.html