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Al-Birunis’
‘Economy of Nature’ in Modern Biotechnology
The
concept of the “Economy of Nature” was first presented in Alberunis’ India
by the naturalist, geographer, astronomer and astrologer Abu Raihan Muhammad ibn
Ahmad al-Biruni (362/973). He wrote a treatise describing how nature provides
its own system of checks and balances, thus protecting itself from harm.
He
says:
“The
bees kill those of their kind who only eat, but do not work in their beehives.
Nature proceeds in a similar way: however, it does not distinguish, for its
action is under all circumstances is one and the same. It allows the leaves and
fruit of the trees to perish, thus preventing them from realizing that result
[for] which they are intended in the economy of Nature. It removes them so as to
make room for others. If thus the earth is ruined, or is near to being ruined,
by having too many inhabitants, its’ ruler – for it has a ruler, and His
All-Embracing care is apparent in every single particle of it – sends is a
messenger for the purpose of reducing the too great number and of cutting away
all that is evil” (Nasr, p.107,123).
Hundreds
of years later, the age of biotechnology bears witness to the economy of nature.
An example is the Whitewood Creek of South Dakota, U.S. For 100 years it ran
gray and sterile from the Homestake Mines’ gold-processing plant. Daily lethal
cyanide had poured into the stream, along with mercury, arsenic and sewage. The
pollutants ran through the surrounding Black Hills. Regardless of the benefits
of employment, a public outcry in the 1970’s resulted in a clean-up program.
The problem remained on how to safely dispose of the cyanide’s waste matter.
Homestake biochemist JimWhitlock - upon sampling the water exposed to the poison
- found cyanide-tolerant bacteria that actually fed on the poisons’ carbon and
nitrogen. “We designed a bioreactor, a series of tanks in which the cyanide
effluent moves slowly past feeding bacteria. It worked…” (Canby, p.41).
This
function of nature was recognized by al-Biruni. He wrote in his Chronology of
Ancient Nations: “Frequently, however, you find in the functions [actions]
of Nature which it is her office to fulfill some fault [some irregularity], but
this only serves to show that the Creator who had designed something deviating
from the general tenor of things is infinitely sublime, beyond everything which
we poor sinners may conceive and predicate of Him” (Nasr, p.124).
Modern
scientists, however, are just beginning to appreciate microbes and their ability
to breakdown both natural and man-made waste. John A. Glaser of the
Environmental Protection Agency said: “We can use this environmental process
to clean-up the environment” (Canby, p.43). A study by the U.S. Department of
Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (NEEL) found in 1999 that
microorganisms in the rock located 75 meters between the earth’s surface were
eating away at radioactive waste and doing so much faster if fed with a diet of
pollutants from leaky fuel tanks. NEEL’s site had been a storage site for
highly radioactive waste for over 40 years. The rock beneath NEEL has been
polluted with hexavalent chromium (Cr6+) that can cause mutations, kill living
cells and cause cancer. Once inside the cells, Cr6+ turns into another form of
chromium, trivalent chromium (Cr3+). Cr3+ disrupts the ability of DNA to
replicate itself. Many of the newly discovered microorganisms can change Cr6+
into Cr3+ while it is still outside a cell. The bacteria, Arthrobacter
oxydans, emerged as the most effective at changing chromium to a less toxic
form (Lazaroff, p.1,2). This is another example of what al-Biruni spoke of
hundreds of years ago. Since then, researchers have isolated thousands of useful
microbes. The world’s most diverse “bug” bank, the American Type Culture
Collection keeps over 55,000 microscopic cell cultures in frozen storage (Canby,
p.41).
However,
modern science has never been content with nature taking the lead. It is all too
easy now to look to genetic engineering so that man can play god. Plant genes
thought to allow the accumulation of large amounts of metal in their tissues
have been identified and cloned at the Purdue University, U.S. Associate
professor of plant molecular physiology and principal investigator on the
project David Salt sees this as an option for plant breeders. “This is really
one of the first tools that we’ve got to manipulate this process of metal
hyperaccummulation.” The aim is to produce new crop plants that can clean up
industrial contamination, new foods that fight disease and reduced work for some
farmers (Ascribe, p.1).
Is
this progress? When nature takes on the job, the process is more thorough in
bringing everything back into balance. When we turn to science as a means to a
solution, we are ignoring the fact that man has a limited knowledge of his world
and that in all cases, only Allah has ultimate command over the mysteries of
nature. There is thus a fine line between “assisting nature” and “playing
god”.
One
area where this fine line is apparent is the growing industry of recycling. Seen
as an economical way of dealing with the radioactive waste problem, recycling
has been going on in the U.S. since 1996. Instead of isolating or eradicating
radioactive metal and other materials from the public, the nuclear industry
hopes to save or make money by selling materials contaminated with radiation (Hauter,
p.1). The report, Waste Lands: The Threat of Toxic Fertilizer, listed 20
fertilizers that contain levels of toxic metals that exceed the limits set on
wastes sent to public landfills. The study conducted by the national and state
Public Interest Research Groups purchased fertilizers from 12 states. Tested by
independent laboratory Frontier GeoSciences, the fertilizers were found to
contain arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium amongst others (Lazaroff,
p.2). If not broken-down adequately and ingested by humans via the produce
grown, the effect of heavy metals in diet can result in higher levels of
learning disabilities, hyperactivity, substance abuse, violent crime etc. In
several different samples of prison inmates, violent offenders had significantly
higher levels of lead, cadmium or manganese in their hair than the non-violent
offenders (Master, p.2).
May
we hasten to the understanding that show us His abundance that sustains life and
deter us away from the short-term benefits that lead to death! The more we
explore and try to understand His lessons through the veil of nature the less
problems we will create for ourselves. As Seyyed Hossein Nasr wrote on al-Biruni’s
“Economy of Nature” that “The perfection and “economy” of the cosmos,
however, is not to be judged by human standards at all. It is the Divine Wisdom
which rules and orders the Universe and gives form to creatures, often in a
manner, which demonstrates the transcendence of Divine. Wisdom and Beauty above
any human criteria of purposefulness and harmony. Man discovers the harmony and
beauty of Nature not by projecting his own limited perspective upon the cosmos
but by realizing his weakness and submitting to the Wisdom of the Creator” (Nasr
p.125).
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