by There are many important questions that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein brings to light. The book deals with many ethical and moral dilemmas that scientists have faced for generations, and pushes the boundaries of scientific discovery and what should classify as such. I found myself even more interested in Shelley’s story after our in class discussion as I began to think about the impact of the story and the newfound relevance it has in the present day. Specifically, I was focused on the idea of cloning and the possible future developments in this field and how Shelley’s two-hundred year old story deals with the same ethical dilemmas.
As Victor Frankenstein embarks on his self fulfilling journey to create Frankenstein the boundaries of scientific discovery are quickly approached. Through a mix of alchemy, chemistry, and other personal aspirations Victor successfully creates new life in a breakthrough scientific discovery. As the story progresses, Frankenstein causes Victor great pain and suffering as he learns firsthand the risk of scientific innovation. With breakthrough creations comes newfound challenges and danger which Victor clearly learned throughout the story. Shelley’s story is a deviation from realistic modern cloning, however it brings up the same arguments and possible downsides.
Dolly the sheep was the first successfully cloned adult mammal that lived for 7 years from 1996-2003. While reading Shelley’s book I was thinking about the story of Dolly, as both th
is and Victor’s creation of Frankenstein were unsurpassed scientific experiments that pushed the boundaries of science, technology, and societal norms. Dolly’s cloning marked the first time an adult mammal animal had been cloned, and the first time a successful clone of an individual took place rather than solely a fertilized egg. Both the cloning of Dolly and the creation of Frankenstein have historical significance in the three S,T,S fields as the creation of life and the question of artificial consciousness are both heavily discussed in the present day. The human interest in creating life through science has been a trend for a long time, and with the recent progression of research towards genome editing the argument for all types of cloning and life creation can be considered. The question that always follows this branch of science and thought is whether or not this is ethical, and if it is actually scientific discovery at all.
The answer to the first question I think depends on the circumstances. There are many new distinct types of scientific work regarding biological replication, genome editing, and cloning that all deal with different ethical questions and concerns. There is no one answer for all of these distinct possible cases in the future, and I think it will be very interesting to see what governments and countries decide is ethically sound versus what is not allowed to be attempted. I believe that the second question does have one straight answer. I think in the case of Victor Frankenstein, Dolly the sheep, and majority of the genome editing breakthroughs we have recently seen that these should all be considered scientific breakthroughs. In each respective case scientific norms and understood ideas are pushed past boundaries, as we discover new things about the creation of life.
References:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Dolly-cloned-sheep