Function of Religious Capital in the Acceptance of Genetic Engineering

Religions and religious schools have always been one of the main and fundamental factors in the creation and development of civilizations or their destruction. With the establishment of a religious government in Iran; based on the values of the Islamic Revolution, more attention was paid for science and technology. Iran is now praised for its continued growth in scientific publications during the last two decades. The leadership of the country has not ignored any opportunity to advise the scientific society and the politicians towards gaining knowledge and conquering scientific achievements. One of the scientific fields that has been improving steadily in Iran is Agricultural Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering. However, from the beginning, several religious and scientific concerns have been raised abouth the development and use of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) as the output of these technologies. This research uses the library search, structured documentary reviews and content analysis using the model of enhancing religious capital in Iran, using a qualitative method: grounded theory. The aim is to study the approach of Islam about the acquisition of science, its development and scientific endeavor as well as its position about confrontations with new and advanced technologies. Findings of this study shows that the critics of development and use of GMOs have not presented any credible scientific evidence and/or jurisprudential arguments supporting their claims about the negative effects or their contradiction with Islamic preaches and princiles. We therefore conclude that the religious approach in acceptance of new technologies will result in the enriched and strengthened religious capital in Iran.