Philosophical analysis of biotechnology phenomenon perception in context of religious values

Human fear of the unknown plays its negative role on the establishment of contemporary biotechnology image. Development of the image is also affected by close attention paid by public institutions, which is only fare when it comes to such social institutions as religion. Even in secular societies, religion plays its important role in public opinion formation. It influences significant developments in the field of science and legislature. Analysis of the attitude demonstrated by such religions as Catholicism, Orthodoxy, Judaism, and Buddhism toward biotechnology is rather significant. It helps to define further prospects of possible scientific research in this area. It is pivotal to understand how world religions approach questions dealing with the status of human embryo, morals of artificial fertilization, genetic engineering, cloning, and etc. It was found out that the above listed world religions have different views on many key questions. Moreover, in some cases there could be no unanimously accepted point of view within a single confession. All these factors make it difficult to reveal common grounds for a single attitude toward contemporary biotechnology.