Vedanta & Biotechnology

Today, at the turn of the 21st century, genetic revolution has transformed the nature of our biological research and it is opening a new and unprecedented progress in various disciplines of life sciences. However, while the transformative potential of biotechnology has acquired an unbelievable eminence in biology and medicine, it has, perhaps, more than any other area of scientific and technological research, raised some of the most profound bioethical questions that humanity has ever faced. With serious implications for our health, the environment, the future of agriculture, the relationship between human societies and the rest of the nature, and the meaning and purpose of life, these genetic technologies have aroused worldwide attention. Fields such as stem research, cloning, euthanasia, abortion, gene therapy and so on have already become the subjects of heated public debate. Touching the latest biotechnologies from cloning to highly debatable stem cell research, the author, Dr. T. D. Singh, in this volume, summarizes the biotechnological revolutions, reviews some of the important bioethical questions raised by them and seeks possible guidance from Vedanta, the topmost scientific and philosophical treatise of Indian spiritual and cultural heritage to help resolve some of these issues. We hope these words by Dr. Singh, who himself witnessed biotechnological revolution in the last few decades, will provide stimulating insights into what has now become one of the most extraordinarily revealing arena of our times.