RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Lessons from Frankenstein 200 years on: brain organoids, chimaeras and other ‘monsters’
JF Journal of Medical Ethics
JO J Med Ethics
FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and Institute of Medical Ethics
SP medethics-2019-105839
DO 10.1136/medethics-2019-105839
A1 Julian Koplin
A1 John Massie
YR 2020
UL http://jme.bmj.com/content/early/2020/01/29/medethics-2019-105839.abstract
AB Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has captured the public imagination ever since it was first published over 200 years ago. While the narrative reflected 19th-century anxieties about the emerging scientific revolution, it also suggested some clear moral lessons that remain relevant today. In a sense, Frankenstein was a work of bioethics written a century and a half before the discipline came to exist. This paper revisits the lessons of Frankenstein regarding the creation and manipulation of life in the light of recent developments in stem cell and neurobiological research. It argues that these lessons are becoming more relevant than ever.