Frankenstein by Mary Shelly - Essay Example

The Monster” ….to be or not to be…………… Order No: 154982 Pages – 7 -6530 About the Mary Shelly (1791 – 1851) was born of scholarly parents Mary Wellstonecraft who wrote “Vindication of Women’s Rights” (1792) and William Godwin who was famous anarchist and political philosopher. When a teenager she eloped with the famous poet Percy Bysshe Shelly whom she later married. At the age of 19 Mary won recognition for her world famous best seller “Frankenstein”. This novel remains popular even to this day and is considered as a part of our cultural mythology. Considering that Mary was a young girl, her “Frankenstein” received many a negative review such as – “the most enduring ghost story of all time” and “a precursor to the existential thriller.” The novel which remains popular even today, unravels the story of a highly ambitious and proud scientist who craves to create a new life form and aspires to become like God. This story is of significant relevance which tells us how Dr. Frankenstein steeps himself into his scientific study and contemplates the creation of life. The story so far……. Mary brings out beautifully the struggle that Frankenstein faces to infuse life into something inanimate. She tells of how he worked ardently in his laboratory from morning to night and sometimes even into the next morning with just that sole goal in his mind to drive him on. He faced many difficulties and pitfalls in the various experiments he carried out and at one point he even wanted to give up and return to his family and friends, but then again it was this burning desire to create life and become like God that made him bear up his failures and urged him on again. To quote his own words “None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of Science” At the end of two years, he made great progress and won great appreciation and recognition in his University. The phenomenon that particularly attracted his attention was the human frame. According to him –“To examine the causes of life, we must first have recourse to death”. He examined and analyised every crevice of life to death and from death to life, until from the darkness broke out a wondrous light that at first blinded him in its simplicity and then exulted him to dizzying heights in the discovery he had made. He had achieved what he wanted to after all! He now had the uncanny power to bestow animation on the object which was once lifeless. He was now left with the job of making a frame work with the intricacy of all its muscles and fibers. It seemed almost impractical in its magnitude and complexity, but the rush of enthusiasm was like a hurricane within him that he could not stop. Frankenstein says –“A new species would bless me as its creator and source; many happy and excellent creatures would owe their being to me”. It was with all these thoughts that he started the creation of a human being. He carried out his laborious job in a solitary cell or chamber right at the top of his house. His own human nature was filled with loathing as he dissected materials from the slaughter house. His occupation was loathsome in itself as it made him forget his family and friends; he even resisted nature and all its charms thus making him a human devoid of all feelings. As the days passed by, he came nearer his goal of achieving something no other human dared to attempt. He worked with heart and soul and gave his all till he succeeded in making the impossible - “a human being” from something that was lifeless. This story, though a fable had a great impact on people in the field of research in science and soon there were a whole lot of them scrambling to make progress in discovering the human body. Some of the attempts turned out to be much of a success, but others were utter failures. Scientific and Ethical Complexities: There was an International uproar which involved Woo Suk Hwang, the leader of a South Korean team engaged in stem cell research. He claimed to having taken oocytes from members of his team and some donors. It turned out to be a pack of lies and was considered as fraud. The research was discredited which led to a big scandal. As a result a lot of the donor eggs were lost leading to distrust between scientists and their research subjects. In the aftermath of such a debacle, it remains uncertain about research groups getting the necessary funding and approvals to carry out research on somatic cell nuclear transfer. Research institutes keep holding conferences to examine and analyse the risks that are involved with egg donation. In the present age, oocytes, spermatozoa and embryo donation are legally and ethically accepted forms of assisted conception in most countries. The question that poses a debate is whether the donor should be compensated for the eggs they donate. While some think that the donor should give the eggs freely, others are of the opinion that since the donor goes through a lot of difficulty during the procedure such as discomfort, bleeding and above all risks of contacting diseases such as cancer, they should be highly compensated. It should be also taken into consideration that oocytes were usually donated for reproductive purposes and not for research. Another ethical concern for donors would be that they become commodities in supplying oocytes for monetary gain. Moreover the process involved in egg donation is not only potentially risky but also uncomfortable and time consuming. Many a time, the donors were not aware what they were getting into. The donors were paid a paltry sum of $4000 to $5000, but sometimes they were paid more. In some countries like Canada and the U.K such payments were banned. The ethics committee of the American Society was not in favor of this because a donor had to spend 56 hours going through the whole medical process which was quite tedious. It also involved risk and side effects from anesthesia and bleeding. The donor was also liable of developing hyper stimulation in which the permeability of the capillaries is heightened and the fluid flows from the intravascular spaces to other compartments. Hospitalization is required in severe cases and such pleural, pericardial effusions, ascites and venous thrombo embolism may develop. Women, who undergo multiple cycles of hormonal stimulation, undoubtedly increase their risk of ovarian cancer later on in life. According to the National Organ Transplant Act of 1984, it prohibits the transfer “of any human organ for valuable consideration for use in a human transplantation if the transfer affects interstate commerce”. Even though the commercial potential is huge, yet the subjects have no ownership rights and do not share in the other benefits. According to Bonnie Stein bock, a professor of philosophy at the State University of New York in Albany and who has studied egg donation says that payment for egg donation for the purpose of research is ethically acceptable, but in the absence of a consensus the donor should not be compensated. In some places like Massachusetts and South Korea, such payments were prohibited. This in turn led to secret payments and other problematic issues. According to Mary Lyndon Shanley, two ethical pointers reflect this burning issue ---- Should the other party learn of the donor’s identity? Should the sale of eggs and sperm be prohibited, regulated or left to the open market? The procedure of transferring ones gametes for a sum of money conceptualizes a person’s body as a commodity. It is a complex situation when we find it difficult to come to terms, when we come across Ads. That scream askance for a donor, offering hefty sums of money. People with a financial problem often fall prey to it. Therefore conceiving children through donated gametes raises social, ethical complex and legal issues. Organ transplant is another common phenomenon, where donated organs like the heart, kidney, eye etc. are used to save people with a defective organ and thus has been responsible in saving the lives of many people. But there is also a negative side to this practice. Due to a financial crisis, one may decide to donate their organ for a certain amount of money, thus endangering their own lives. Sometimes gullible people are trapped into being relieved of their organ without their consent. Organ trade is one of the scars on our society. Ethics and Society: Taking into consideration, that each and every individual is unique and have their own drawbacks, it becomes the responsibility of the society to set right the situation. In my opinion, donation of oocytes to people who are unable to produce their own is in fact a boon to those mothers who aspire to have children of their own. It removes the stigma of barrenness a mother would have to suffer with for the rest of her life, had it not been for egg donation. Nevertheless, after all said and done, it clearly shows that in the interest of the donor the contribution of eggs have to be adequately compensated, since the donors put themselves at great risk. The satisfaction of an infertile couple having a child is a good feeling to the donor but that is not enough – compensation for all the trouble taken by the donor to achieve this should be given. Moreover, the banning of such payments would undoubtedly jeopardize the supply of eggs from donors. Hence programs that offer financial assistance to the donor should not encourage exploitation of the situation, by incorporating a good counseling process that clearly explains the necessary terms and conditions prevalent for this procedure. Such steps would not only act as a safeguard but also reflect good ethical values which would put an end to any legal hassle that may occur in the future. Oocyte program staff should be well trained to handle this delicate situation where conflict between the donor and the recipient may arise – they should work in the interests of both the parties concerned. The Government, who makes the final decision on this delicate issue, should look at both sides of the coin, before drawing conclusions. Consideration should be exercised not only from the patient point of view, but also from the donors because after all, both patients and donors belong to the same society and have equal rights. Since the donor is the one taking heavy risk, not only should they be adequately compensated, but the responsibility of the donor’s prolonged good health should be taken care of and in any eventuality of the donor facing serious diseases like cancer etc…there should be provision for compensation to their families. After all one should understand that “nothing comes free – except love” and that is not the criteria here! References: Hwang WS, RohS1,LeeBC,et al. Patient-specific embryonic stem cells derived from human SNCT blastocysts. Science 2005; 308:1777-83 Http://www.proquest.com/division/cs-support.shtml www.ornl.gov/techresources/Human_Genome/home.shtml http:Aproquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=982972541andFmt=4&clientld=4676&RQT=309&VName=PQD Ethics Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Financial incentives in recruitment of oocyte donors. Fertil Steril 2004;82:Suppl 1:S240-S244. Practice Committee of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. Fertil Steril 2003; 80:1309-14. Magnus D, Cho MK. Issues in oocyte donation for stem cell research. Science 2005; 308:1747-8. Steinbock B. Payment for egg donation and surrogacy. Mt Sinai J Med 2004;71:255-65. Braverman AM. Survey results on the current practice of ovum donation. Fertility & Sterility 1993;59:1216 –20. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, Resolve. 1997 Assisted Reproductive Technology in the United States: 1997 Assisted Reproductive Technology. Ahuja KK, Simons EG, Mostyn BJ, Bowen-Simpkins P. An assessment of the motives and morals of egg share donors: policy of “payments” to donors requires a fair review. Hum Reprod 1998;13:2671– 8. Read More