Assalamu Alaykum, I am a university student who has alhamdulillah been offered a research position in Biomedical Research as a scholarship to my undergraduate study. The project involves Cancer Research and the Cell Cycle in fruit flies (the Drosophila animal species). Specifically, I am involved in trying to understand how the proteins in a protein complex found in cells interact with each other, and their roles in cancer. Part of my work involves taking the DNA sequence of a particular protein in this complex and altering a few bases which affect the way that this protein binds to the other proteins in the complex. Once I prepare the DNA, the objective is to insert it back into the fruit fly and to see the result in the fly\'s cells. The second part of the project focuses on increasing the amount of certain proteins and viewing the result. I know that altering Allah's creation is not favorable. However I have also heard from different sources that for the purposes of medical research, one may be able to participate in these experiments. The flies are treated with care and are used solely for the basis of the research. I would like to know whether either of the two aspects of the research project I was assigned to are permissible for me to work on? Islamically, would this classify as changing Allah's creation, or is it viewed as a viable temporary method for research discovery? As well, if I am simply involved in making the mutated (altered) DNA, which will have many uses and purposes other than the one described above (ex: it may be used to construct the protein, and the protein interactions would be tested in a biochemical solution, and NOT in a living fruit fly – sometimes in bacteria or simply a solution) – in this case, can I still participate in constructing this DNA, even when I know that my work may be used by others in the future to insert the DNA in fruit flies?
If your suggestion is that my work on this project is discouraged, what do you suggest me to do with all of the work I have already done? (should I try to find a way to destroy it?)

Alhamdulillah wa as-Salatu wa as-Salamu 'ala Rasool-illah
Dear Brother,
First, I commend you for being observant of your deen and for seeking the pleasure of Allah. I also, commend you for choosing a career in science and trying to excel in it.
Before I answer your specific question, I would like to stress that, unlike some other religions, there is no irony at all in being a scientist and a practicing Muslim. That is because there is no contradiction at all between Islam and true established scientific facts.
It is also important to note that the cradle of the birth of the current modern scientific civilization was in the Muslim lands, and as Robert Briffault admits In The Making of Humanity:
“Science is the most momentous contribution of Arab [meaning Muslims who all wrote in Arabic] civilization to the modern world. The debt of our science to that of the Arabs does not consist of startling discoveries or revolutionary theories; science owes a great deal more to the Arabs; its own existence.” He explains the reason of his strong statement by saying: “Neither Roger Bacon nor his later namesake has any title to be credited with having introduced the experimental method. Roger Bacon was no more than one of the apostles of Muslim science and method to Christian Europe.”
I encourage you to continue on the path of science, and to always guide your work by Sharia, which is meant to bring about benefits to humanity and ward off evil.
As for your specific question, you are right about the change/alteration of Allah’s creations. Allah said:
“لَا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ” [الروم : 30]
“No change let there be in the creation of Allah. That is the straight religion, but most of men know not.” [Rûm, 30: 30]
The Islamic Fiqh Council of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) had this to say about cloning and genetic engineering:
“Fourth: It is permissible from the point of view of the Islamic Shari’ah to adopt cloning and genetic engineering technology in the field of bacteria and other microscopic creatures, plants, and animals, but within the legal rules of the Shari’ah, and in a way that fulfills the public benefit and drives away evil.”
The European Council for Fatwa and Research pointed out the following conditions for cloning, and they would apply to genetic engineering as well:
“1. There must be a considerable benefit (from the point of view of the Islamic Sharî’ah).
2. The expected benefit should not elicit a greater evil.
3. The process should not lead to the torture of an animal or changing its features.”
As for genetic engineering, it is not all about the alteration of creation, but a big part of it is about the discovery of cures from certain diseases…etc. in the process of discovering such cures, some experimentation on microscopic creatures, plants and some laboratory animals may result in a transient and unintended change of creation that should not be spread or allowed into the ecological system.
The change of features of animals is condemnable, however, in your case, it is meant for research purposes, not to introduce different features in animals or introduce new species or crossovers into the meticulously and divinely balanced ecological system.
The change of some features that make man or other creations prone to diseases is a form of treatment. Thus, it is accepted and encouraged. It is presumed that most of the advances in medical sciences in the future will result from advances in genetic engineering.
It seems, from the description you gave, that your research is a valid and viable method for the discovery of treatments for certain diseases. You are not working to change the flies into a different creation with a different shape or size…etc. You are transiently introducing some features into them to study their effect on their bodies in an attempt to find cures for certain diseases. I believe, based on your description, that your work is halal.
I hope this answered your question, and may Allah grant you guidance and success.
Allah knows best.