Lessons From Frankenstein: The Dangers of Toying With Science

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Recommended: Technology and how it affects ethics

For mankind, the basic, most general use of technology, is to assist people in solving problems. Over the last several decades, the rate of technological progress has skyrocketed with the emergence of new and innovative discoveries. There is much promising research currently taking place, some that hold high risks despite the heavy rewards. For example, scientists have been cloning cells and tissues for years, and although the idea of cloning another human may seem fantastical, that possibility is well within grasp. However, despite the potential advantages of the research, humans must decide whether the benefits of human cloning outweigh the negative consequences of venturing into this gray area of ethics and morals. Mary Shelley explores the consequences of pursuing this forbidden knowledge in her novel, Frankenstein, where her scientist, Victor, creates a replica of human life in an effort to benefit mankind. However, Victor's plan backfires, and his experiment goes terribly awry. Just as Frankenstein's venture into the unknown sciences failed, it is entirely likely that our own experiments will do the same and make human cloning an unviable solution for mankind's problems.

In Frankenstein, Victor's negative actions cause his creation to turn against him. Although there are no current rebellions of human creations, there is still a negative connotation attached to cloning. The original controversy surrounding the issue involved the ethics of using stem cells for the research and the experiments. Acquiring these stem cells involved scientists to pull the cells from human embryos, which would inevitably result in the destruction of those embryos. James Thomson, a biologist at the University of Wisconsin said “if human embryonic...

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...ook, Gregg. "Embrace Human Cloning." Wired 17.10 (2009): 100. EBSCOhost. Database. 19 Mar 2011.

Genetic Science Learning Center. "Why Clone?." Learn.Genetics 21 March 2011 genetics.utah.edu/content/tech/cloning/whyclone/> Ho, Mae-Wan, and Joe Cummins. "Why Clone Humans?." Institute of Science in Society n. pag. Web. 20 Mar 2011. .

"The Ethics of Human Cloning." American Medical Association. Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs of the American Medical Association, 1999. Web. 19 Mar 2011.
-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/369/report98.pdf>.

United States. PCR Fact Sheet. , 2010. Web. 20 Mar 2011. .

Van Riper, A. Bowdoin. "Cloning." Science in Popular Culture: A Reference Guide. Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood, 2002. ABC-CLIO eBook Collection. Web. 20 Mar 2011.

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