SENTINEL WATCH November 25, 2002 Issue

Is DNA cause or effect?

By Barbara Vining

I was driving to my office, listening to Morning Edition on NPR (National Public Radio). Commentator David Ewing Duncan was talking about the implications of his experience as the first human to have his DNA extensively screened for genetic disorders. He hopes this information will enable him to fend off diseases that the tests indicated he is predisposed toward.

The subject interests me because for nearly 40 years I've been devoting my life to eliminating disease and suffering. I appreciate the efforts of researchers to get to the genesis of disease in the hope of finding effective ways to prevent and cure it.

Since the focus of my career as a Christian Science practitioner has been on the prevention and cure of disease through spiritual causation and power, I found myself asking some questions: "What are genetic researchers actually looking at? Is DNA cause or effect? Could it actually be the effect of human misperceptions? If it is effect, is DNA itself subject to change through spiritual power?"

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