This second story about regret is not an isolated one. Scientific advances that one researcher intends for good can be taken by someone else and used for evil. I am reminded also of Albert Einstein's dismay that his breakthroughs in the area of physics led to the devastation of atomic bombs.
I
recently learned about the French geneticist named Jerome Lejeune, who discovered in 1959 that an extra 21st chromosome is what causes the
condition of Down’s Syndrome. He
received awards and much fame after his finding.
However, he quickly discovered that his
research was being used to do genetic testing on pregnant women. As a result, those showing the trisomy-21
condition were being recommended for abortion.
A 10 year-old boy with Down’s Syndrome he knew from his practice was
also aware of this trend and felt a strong solidarity with the plight of these
pre-born babies. He pleaded with
Lejeune to “save us because we are too weak.”
Even though it
cost him all the prestige and credibility among his professional peers, this
kind-hearted and devoutly Catholic man began to speak up for these children,
pointing not only to the immorality of abortion but also to the potential that these
children have despite their disability.
Lejeune campaigned internationally for the sanctity of life during the
remaining 35 years of his life.
“They brandish
chromosomal racism like the flag of freedom,” he once wrote. “That this
rejection of medicine—of the whole biological brotherhood that binds the human
family—should be the only practical application of our knowledge is beyond
heartbreaking.”[1]
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