By Fr. Benedict Mayaki, SJ

Professor David Baulcombe is one of the newest members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. As such, He hopes – in collaboration with other academicians – to learn, discuss, and help work for the benefit of people and the planet.

Brief biography

Born in Solihull, Great Britain, Professor David Baulcombe studied at the Universities of Leeds and Edinburgh, and was awarded a research doctorate. He has focused his research on gene regulation and gene expression during normal development and in disease resistance. He is the recipient of several awards including the Balzan Prize for Epigenetics (2012) and the Wolf Prize in Agriculture (2010). In 2009, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II. 

Since 2017, Prof. Baulcombe has been Research Professor at the Royal Society and Professor of Botany in the Department of Plant Science at Cambridge University, UK. He is the author of numerous publications and has taught in several universities.

Field of scientific research

“I have always been interested in the ways that science influences perspectives on the natural world and the ways we can use science to improve the well-being of people,” says Prof. Baulcombe, in an interview with Vatican News.

He explains that his research over the years has been about genes, particularly how they get switched “on” and “off”. 

Clarifying further, he says that during development everything starts as one cell which “differentiates” into other types of cells. During this process, some genes are switched on, and others off. In the same way, when organisms are infected with viruses, genes in the host are switched on or off in response to the infection. 

Professor Balcombe’s contribution in this regard has been to reveal not just the major “on and off” switches, but also information about what he refers to as a “fine-tuning mechanism” of the regulation of genes at the right level and at the right time. 

Discovering how living things work

Giving more details about his approach, he calls himself a “reductionist wholist.” Illustrating this, he says that if we need to understand how living things work, it helps to know the component parts of the system. Therefore, since he holds that the “genes of living systems are probably their most fundamental component part,” understanding how they are regulated would lead to a better understanding of cells, organisms, and populations.

Prof. Baulcombe’s research has also led him to the discovery of a new molecule while working on “gene silencing” (regulation of gene expression in cells by switching them on or off). He explains that genes are made of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and that there is a system molecule in living cells called ribonucleic acid (RNA). In his work on gene silencing, his laboratory discovered this new, smaller RNA molecule in plants.

Environmental sustainability

Highlighting the applications of his research, Prof. Baulcome underscores its use in the field of agriculture: in disease and disease resistance in plants, as well as the development of agriculture which requires minimal application of pesticides. All of these, he explains, contribute to food security and environmental sustainability of agriculture.

His work on “gene silencing” also converged at the same time with the research of other people who were doing the same thing with animal cells (worms, mice and fungi).

This has thus also led to the creation of drugs and therapeutic compounds that can be applied to cure diseases in people based on the type of small RNA molecules that his research discovered.

Service to Church and society

He points out that there are many ways in which the Pontifical Academy of Sciences can help ensure that science is best used for the benefit of people.

With the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, for example, he says that the Academy can help leaders of society, including the Church, to create frameworks that help identify and deal with “what we know and what we do not know” in complex systems like our societies. 

Prof. Baulcombe also notes that there are other needs in society that could be, but have not yet been, addressed by science.

This, he explains, is often “because the priorities of scientific research are shaped by market forces and profit.”

He hopes that the Academy will use its “influence and its voice” to help tackle these problems through science.

Appointment to the Pontifical Academy

Pope Francis appointed him as an ordinary member of the Academy on 26 September 2020. 

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences aims to promote the progress of the mathematical, physical, and natural sciences. It also seeks to stimulate an interdisciplinary approach to scientific knowledge and provide authoritative advice on scientific and technological matters, among other things. It is currently holding a Plenary meeting, from 7-9 October.

By Robin Gomes

At a time when the pandemic has roiled the social, economic and spiritual fabric of society, Pope Francis hopes that advances in science and technology will help create a more equitable and inclusive society, where the neediest and most vulnerable are given preference. 

“How wonderful it would be if the growth of scientific and technological innovation could come along with more equality and social inclusion,” the Pope said. “How wonderful would it be, even as we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters who orbit around us!” he said, citing from his latest encyclical, Fratelli tutti, on fraternity and social friendship, released on Sunday. 

The Pope made the remark in a message to the plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences which began on Wednesday.

The 7-9 October virtual meeting is focusing on the notion of science at the service of people for the survival of humanity, in light of the SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19 pandemic and other global issues. 

Working together

In his message, the Pope noted that despite “all our hyper-connectivity”, the pandemic has laid bare not only “our false securities” but also the “inability of the world’s countries to work together” to resolve problems that affect us all.

The virus, he pointed out, is not only affecting peoples’ health but also the entire social, economic and spiritual fabric of society. It is paralyzing human relationships, work, manufacturing, trade and even many spiritual activities. 

Starting with the least

The impact of the crisis on the world’s poor is great, the Pope said. “For many of them, the question is indeed one of survival itself.” 

With great numbers of children unable to return to school, he said, there is the risk of an increase in child labour, exploitation, abuse and malnutrition. 

“The needs of the poorer members of our human family,” the Holy Father said, “cry out for equitable solutions on the part of governments and all decision makers.”

Healthcare systems need to become much more inclusive and accessible to the disadvantaged and those living in low-income countries. “If anyone should be given preference,” the Pope said, “let it be the neediest and most vulnerable among us.” And when vaccines are available, there should be equitable access to them regardless of income, always starting with the least. 

Ecology

In his message to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Pope Francis also addressed issues of global warming, the ecological crisis and the dramatic loss of biodiversity in the context of the pandemic.

He said this moment of crisis is a summons to the human family to repent and undertake an ecological conversion.

Weapons of mass destruction

Pope Francis also spoke about scenarios that could arise from experiments in the world’s advanced physics and biology laboratories. In this regard, he said, scientists, like politicians, also have a responsibility “to halt not only the manufacture, possession and use of nuclear weapons, but also the development of biological weapons, with their potential to devastate innocent civilians and indeed, entire peoples”. 

By Sr Bernadette Mary Reis, fsp

Msgr Kevin Irwin believes that Pope Francis’s new Encyclical Fratelli tutti is speaking out of a deep concern that humanity is becoming more and more isolated from each other. The Pope’s focus, therefore, on fraternity and social friendship, speak to the heart of this concern.

“We are together”

Fraternity and social friendship go hand in hand, Msgr Irwin explains. The isolation that Pope Francis is addressing is manifested “in terms of countries and borders, in terms of economy and equality, in terms of development.”

Pope Francis’s point is “we are together”, and social friendship is the way to break down the barriers creating the isolation.

“If we take each other seriously, then we should be brothers and sisters and friends, and not just anonymous beings.”

Good Samaritans to each other

The Encyclical, Msgr Irwin says, “overturns the perspective of we and they. The perspective is all of us together, and we are to be Good Samaritans to each other.” The question that then presents itself is “How can we live that together?”

This is what makes the Encyclical profound. To understand its message fully requires that each person slow down, read it, pray with it and reflect on it. Msgr Irwin also suggests that “people begin working in study groups”, discussing it together. People can begin, he says, “to look at inequality in their own countries”. He also suggests dialogue with local Bishops to learn how they plan to move forward on specific topics such as poverty and the death penalty.

New words for past teaching

Although the terminology “fraternity and social friendship” may be new with Pope Francis, Msgr Irwin assures us that Pope Francis refers substantially both to Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI in the Encyclical.

While “the phrase itself is his own, and it has always been a concern of his… overall, it is terminology for a number of things in the Document which his predecessors have already spoken about: economy, the death penalty, etc.”.

World-wide dialogue

It was Pope John XXIII who first addressed an Encyclical to “all people of goodwill” with Pacem in terris. Msgr Irwin says it was a “breakthrough…because he [Pope John XXIII] knew that it would be an important document and he opened it up to the world for the first time”.

Pope Francis has done the same thing with Laudato si’, and now with Fratelli tutti. Therefore, these documents are not “in-house” but are meant “for the whole world to dialogue and discuss and hopefully begin to implement.”

New ‘difference’

Pope Francis’s hope and invitation with Laudato si’ was that it would spark dialogue across the religious and national spectrum. This dialogue is “just beginning to work”, Msgr Irwin acknowledges.

The purpose of Fratelli tutti is to create a new “normal”. With Fratelli tutti, “at this particular moment, in terms of Covid, I think he’s trying to say, ‘We can’t just keep doing this.’ There will be a new ‘normal’. But I think the Pope is asking for a new ‘difference’. It’s got to be different. We can’t keep doing this, and oppressing, and 1 out of 9 people going to bed at night hungry. This is not the way to live.”

Msgr Kevin Irwin is Ordinary Research Professor in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C.

For the UN, as for all international partners of Belarus, the scale of protests and the level of repressions were a big surprise.  This is the first time that the country, which has been very stable and where people are generally quite reserved in terms of expressing their political views, is seeing an election contested to this degree. 

What is also unprecedented is the intensity of repressions against demonstrators and journalists.  About 13,000 people were arrested over the last eight weeks, most of the detentions taking place in the first week after elections.  This will go down in the history books as something that never happened before in Belarus.

Another unexpected phenomenon was the social mobilization and the use of technology that allows people to communicate and coordinate their protests in real time.  Social media and mobile internet are changing the way political activism happens. More and more people are expressing themselves and organizing online.

Promoting human rights

The role of the UN is to promote international norms and standards, and advocate for the respect of universal human rights.  The UN reacted immediately, to remind the state authorities of their international obligations: torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are absolutely prohibited and can never be justified.

From the beginning of the crisis, the UN Secretary General, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and myself as the UN representative in the country, have issued a number of official statements and urged the authorities of Belarus to respect the right to peaceful assembly and expression. 

Facing the mass detentions of over 7,000 people in the week following elections, and allegations of torture in prisons, the UN urged the authorities to release everyone who had been detained for exercising their human rights, to stop torture and other forms of ill-treatment of detainees, investigate all cases of human rights violations, and clarify the fate and whereabouts of any individuals reported as missing.

With time, we have been receiving troubling reports and of torture and other ill-treatment. It is important to ensure that these are well documented, also to allow investigation of and future accountability for such acts. Timely medical examinations are crucial in this regard, alongside the important work of human rights organizations gathering information on these cases.

In my capacity as the UN Resident Coordinator and together with the Senior Human rights advisor in my office, Omer Fisher, we conveyed these messages directly to our national counterparts, first and foremost through the Minister of Foreign Affairs in Belarus and to the Ministry of Interior and other state institutions responding to the crisis.  We have also raised these issues in writing, especially the question of missing persons.  I am encouraged by the fact that the MoI has responded to our letter and that we are gradually receiving more information from the state authorities. 

In addition to dialogue with the State, we continue to discuss the current situation with civil society partners.  Both human rights NGOs and the leaders of SDG Partnership Group have expressed concern about the violence of the security forces, the lack of action, and delays in the investigation of alleged violations, including torture and other ill-treatment).. 

At the UN, we are also receiving complaints directly from the victims and their lawyers: the majority of them do not feel confident that submitting complaints to the authorities will result in proper investigation. 

For several years now, the UN in Belarus has been supporting organizations which offer psychological and legal support to victims of violence.  The demand for this kind of assistance has increased dramatically and we will continue to provide capacity support to the national partners and non-governmental organizations involved in addressing these problems. 

Coping with COVID

Like everywhere in Europe, new cases of COVID-19 in Belarus are on the rise.  And of course, mass protests and especially detention of demonstrators in overcrowded institutions without proper physical distancing and other prevention measures can lead to further spread of infection. 

In the first half of 2020 we adjusted our priorities and the actual content of our work has changed. All together, we provided some $7.5 million to the national response, including supporting the health system, and addressing the socioeconomic impact, namely, helping SMEs to strengthen their entrepreneurial skills.

The UN never closed offices, although many of our staff have been working from home. While the focus has been and remains on COVID-19 response, we continue working on long-term development issues.  For example, we provided policy advice and concrete suggestions on what should be included in Belarus’ long-term development strategy up until 2035, which is being developed this year. 

‘The only path forward is one of dialogue’

From the UN’s perspective, Belarus should set more ambitious development plans, by prioritizing the needs of young people and the ageing population; strengthening the position of women in the economy; and embracing new technologies and opportunities that will support sustainable economic growth that benefits the poorer and most marginalized segments of the society.  This is the vision of cooperation in the next five years of our presence in Belarus.

Amid COVID-19, climate change and political upheaval, Belarus finds itself in an extremely competitive global and regional environment. The only path forward for the country is one of dialogue, ambitious reform and an innovative development agenda, underpinned by true respect for human rights.

There is no sustainable development without human rights.  The UN in Belarus will continue to work on addressing these needs even though it is a challenging and stressful time, especially for the Belarusian members of our team.
We are often asked “could the UN do more?”. I would say that we are trying to do our utmost in this complex situation for Belarus, with the tools that are at our disposal.  With good will, new energy, a willingness to engage in dialogue, and professional effort on all sides, I am sure Belarus will continue to grow and develop.