The Blue Lily-of-the-Valley and the Glass Helix

The lily-of-the-valley is surely one of the purest expressions of natural beauty there is. To try and hybridize it with crossing it with a bluebell seems insane. This blue lily-of-the-valley is an abomination. It would seem to be a question of symbolism too. If the lily-of-the-valley is a symbol for the virginal purity of Spirit or Godhead how on earth can it be improved on ? It can't. It can be messed around with, but it cannot be improved. Nature got it right first time. Geneticists, or in this case horticultural hybridizers, seek to interfere with all that is good about the world, all that is natural, all that is fresh and pure. The beauty of our lily-of-the-valley would be lost. One of its most alluring charms is its colour - that beautiful milky white. It is almost purity and virginity itself. Isn't it God as expressed in Nature ? Once we question God we are in trouble. Man can change God ? - isn't that just an insult ? If man shows arrogance like this won't the wrath of God manifest itself in some terrible way ? - i.e. by destroying all that is good and beautiful. I think if I were God, I probably would, but then even I am human so it is a non sequitur. The world would be left a desolate, barren place, where nothing grew, no seed germinated, if God dies. It would be lacklustre; a scentless and arid desert. We do not need a blue lily-of-the-valley. If a woman with a pink rinse in Hollywood thinks it attractive she becomes a dangerous siren that far outshines Jane Russell.

And then there are people - us. To cure illness is one thing, but to genetically select and design perfect babies is like our blue lily-of-the-valley, an abomination. After several years or decades of such a programme, and presuming the creatures created were all terribly beautiful and perfect where would our sympathies lie ? Would we in fact be left with any sympathy for the disabled, the imperfect, the less desirable ? To have any sympathy we need to flex a sympathy muscle and the only way to do this is by living amongst the less than perfect even if it is only a matter of a less desirable hair colour or eye colour for example. The greatness of the world depends on diversity, a wonderful heterogeneous whole, not on clones of Marilyn Monroe with blonde hair and blue eyes. To try and make everyone conform to some standard of perfection is of course treading a very unsteady path - the route to thirties Nazism. Sadly America after the war tried to eradicate the mentally deficient with some sort of experimental programme. This programme failed but only goes to show what even cultivated and superior, advanced societies are capable of. It is a path to disaster. In eradicating people who should evoke sympathy they are taking away sympathy from the world per se. We need to flex our sympathy muscle not bury it in a welter of totalitarian bunkum. We should not become hard-nosed monsters, so perfect, so strong, so healthy and hard, simply because of a feeling of inferiority. There is another answer - love. The Germans were too cold to see it and so the net result was fascism and the death-camps. We need perfect clones even less than we need a blue lily-of-the-valley ! - a lot less.

To get back to horticulture, there is of course the genetic modification of food. Are'nt things correctly grown, particularly organically, good enough ? They should be. The secret to producing the best food is organic growing not genetic manipulation. A sweeter strawberry, a juicier tomato, all these things are possible without resorting to science. We need good gardeners, that is all. It would be a whole lot cheaper too. The Prince of Wales is a great believer in organic gardening as showcased in his garden at Highgrove. No one need go any further than the compost bin - it is so green too, as it is recycling waste.

Animals have been experimented on too. I hear of jellyfish that glow in the dark, but mice too, isn't that just an abomination ? It sounds as horrific as the smoking beagles, but at least the beagles did sterling work in trying to cure cancer. Glowing mice will do no one any good. And then there are the historic genetic experiments, notably on dinosaurs. Can we take bones from the Natural History Museum of Tyrannosaurus Rex and extract DNA to mastermind a new living Jurassic Park somewhere east of Clapham in the twenty-first century ? I don't think so. The past is past and should remain so; it is all part of evolution. To try and recreate the past just sounds dangerous. And talking of historic DNA experiments there is the dried blood on the Turin Shroud. Is nothing sacred ? Will a desperate scientific caucus try to bring back Christ - a travesty of a second coming ? Perhaps this is the final irony that Christ comes back to the world through man's own device. Maybe this is a trifle hysterical but it is worth considering all the possibilities with the new technology. It raises so many ethical and cultural/religious questions. Where do we go from here ? So many scientists are asking these questions. Our continued future depends on people saying 'No' to so many possibilities not 'Yes'. If we let Frankenstein run riot our beautiful world will be lost. Mary Shelley's novel 'Frankenstein' was almost psychic in its prescience about what was to come with scientific advance, and it can be seen as an extended metaphor for genetic experimentation.

In conclusion, we need tighter controls, much more ethical decisions and vetos. It will all start with a blue lily-of-the-valley when you lose the essence of what something really is. Imagine that wonderful symbol of purity dyed a dirty blue. Don't let it happen, protect your world now or so much may be lost to future generations. Can you imagine your great granddaughter not ever knowing that a snowdrop should be white because to her generation it is available in a colour chart selection. The colours in the rainbow are already there and so alarmingly perfectly - 'mama don't take my kodachrome away'. I like the world just the way it is !