Biotechnology Thrives in India

LONAVLA, India -- In India, Hindu culture trumps all.their Western counterparts. The reason is that
And although India is a growing hub of technologicalHinduism casts a long shadow even over other
and biological influence, Hinduism dominates even thereligions.
sciences. India is ranked 37 among the 82 countriesFew Christians in India talk about such issues, said
assessed by the World Economic Forum's GlobalSelva Raj, the Stanley S. Kresge Professor of
Competitiveness Report for the "state of theirReligious Studies at Albion University in Michigan.
information technology system and its effects on"Indian Christians are much more interested in how to
economic growth and productivity."live and coexist with people of other religions."
Roughly 300,000 engineers graduate from Indian"Life and death are not points in a line. It is a
colleges and universities each year. MultinationalMöbius strip," said Shridhar Venkatraman, an
companies are taking advantage of the talent poolengineer in Chennai who lived for 10 years in the
by making major high-tech investments, such asUnited States. "All living things work toward escaping
Microsoft's plan to spend $1.7 billion and hire 3,000this cycle," and so life and death are personal issues.
employees in India over the next three to four years.The news describes discoveries in science as well as
India's biotech industry is also on the rise, withthe furor they cause in the West. But in general, the
500,000 doctors and nurses entering the workforcediscussion is digested silently. "Bioethics is only
annually. Stem cell research in both the public anddiscussed by the very few elite," according to Dhruv
private sectors has grown considerably over the pastRaina, a professor at the Zakir Husain Centre for
few years in India, where politics or faith has notEducational Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University in
hindered its expansion. As a result, India is home toNew Delhi. "In general, the well-being of people
not one but three national stem cell research facilities.prevails over ideas of danger," said Raina, who
In Western nations like the United States, however,researches the relationship between science,
stem cell research is a hot-button issue. Just a publicsocieties, values and culture.
discussion of the research has triggered furiousHinduism, itself, is not a monolithic entity. "Unlike
protests and stirred up government officials. Not soChristianity, Hinduism is not a codified religion with a
in India, where the Hindu-influenced worldviewsingle papal authority to pontificate on every
pervades scientific progress and everyday discourse.subject," said Jayanthi Iyengar, a practitioner of the
Hinduism, for its part, "doesn't share the moralArt of Living, in Pune. "You won't find a position on
skittishness sometimes displayed by Westernthese issues like the one the Catholic Church has on
Christian thought," said Arvind Sharma, the Birksabortion or genetic modification," Iyengar said.
Professor of Comparative Religions at Montreal's"Hinduism has a fulcrum of pragmatism," according to
McGill University. If no life is destroyed when takingLalitha Khanna, a researcher with a Delhi-based think
stem cells from an aborted fetus, and the purpose istank. "What is good for making a better world is
not evil, it would not disturb their morality, he said.condoned, even eagerly embraced. Stem cell
To keep things on an even keel, secular committeesresearch, therefore, doesn't bring out the fierce
issue national directives. In 2004, the Central Ethicsopposition that Christians in the West probably
Committee on Human Research of the Indian Councilexperience and evince," she added. Religious
on Medical Research circulated ethical guidelines onmandates would be out of place here. "Every sect
how to conduct stem cell research. The Draftand subsect has a guru of its own and will not follow
Guidelines on Stem Cell Research/Regulation stressesthe religious directions of another," said Khanna.
that "termination of pregnancy for obtaining fetus forCloning is also not a dirty word in India. "Hinduism will
stem cells, research or for transplantation is not tonot have any major conflicts with engineered life
be permitted." Additionally, "no embryo can beforms of any kind because the tradition has always
created for the sole purpose of obtaining stem cells."had multiple life forms and considers any and all of
In 2000, a report on "Ethical Guidelines for Biomedicalthem as co-travelers on the Möbius strip," said
Research on Human Subjects," which dealt withVenkatraman.
genetic screening, was released."We are culturally desensitized to the possibility of
Recommendations such as these are totally inthe existence of such things," added Sharma. Case in
character for the general milieu, said Sharma. "Mostpoint: The Hindu god of good beginnings, Ganesha, is
moral issues don't come into the public discourse buthuman with an elephant's head; the god Vishnu came
remain private." Using the example of anotherto earth as a narasimha -- half man, half lion.
bioethical controversy that is contentious in theMost Indian children learn these stories growing up,
West, he added, "People deal with issues likeregardless of religion. "At the level of practice, I think
euthanasia in the context of their families."Indian Christians are pretty pragmatic in their use of
India is officially a secular republic, home to thetechnologies," said Rowena Robinson, an associate
largest number of Hindus and Muslims in the world.professor of sociology at the Indian Institute of
"Nearly every Indian, regardless of religion, isTechnology, Bombay. "I am not sure if the ideological
Hindu-thinking and lives according to Hindu culture andimplications cause much wringing of hands," she said.
philosophy," said Ram Surat, a Christian convertIt is wrong to think science and religion are in conflict
getting his divinity degree at the Union Biblicalin India, added Victor Ferrao, a doctoral student at
Seminary, Pune. For Hindus, this philosophy translatesthe Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth seminary in Pune. In his
to a respect for all life, a belief in an immutable soulhometown of Goa, Ferrao leads a community
and the body as a vessel.science-and-religion dialogue group. "Developments in
Even Christians -- a growing population in India -- doscience make the dialogue urgent," he said, "but
not have as strong criticisms of biotechnology asscience and religion are correlational.