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A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day with Canon Rachel Mann.

Good morning.

Twenty five years ago on this day, something remarkable happened: a sheep was born. Well, if that sounds ridiculous, the sheep in question was, of course, no ordinary farm animal. Dolly the Sheep was the world’s first cloned animal, created by scientists at the Roslin Institute in Midlothian.

Since Dolly, all sorts of mammals have been cloned, including pigs, deer and horses. Unsurprisingly, such scientific wonders are not without controversy. Simply because something is technically possible it does not, of course, mean that it is ethically desirable. Certainly, for those of us who have been raised on science fictions like those of Kazuo Ishiguro – in which human beings are cloned as spare parts – there is an inevitable frisson of fear when one imagines what animal cloning might lead towards.

I do understand why people of faith might get anxious about the leading-edges of science and technology. There will always be concerns about how God’s creation can be manipulated in such a way that life is diminished or exploited for profit. One doesn’t have to believe in God to raise questions about breaking the laws of nature.

I am inclined to be guided by what leads to flourishing new life. As Jesus said, ‘I came that you might have life and have it abundantly’. As someone with a chronic disease, I, like so many, am only alive today because of medical progress. Equally, I can see how cloning might mean that rare species do not go extinct.

God of Life, in the midst of the complexities of modern life, grant me such discernment and wisdom that I may be open to the new wonders you work whilst being faithful to you.

Amen.