Frankenstein Today :: essays research papers fc

Is the Technology of Today Ready to Create Mary Shelleys Frankenstein?When the novel Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley came out in 1831 the general earthly concern was introduced to the idea of man creating a nonher man, scientifically without the use of reproduction. The disasters that followed, in the novel, demonstrated the horrid fact that creating kind-hearteds was not natural. That was in 1831, when the knowledge of science had not yet evolved enough to act on such an idea. Now as the start of a new millenium approaches, having the capability to scientifically produce one human who is genetically identical to an other(a), or cloning a human, has a lot of people questioning weather or not it is our moral right to do such a thing. It is a classic debate between principles of science and principles of religion.The more we know about genetics and the building blocks of life the closer we complicate to being capable of cloning a human. The flying field of chromosomes and DNA strain s has been going on for years. In 1990, the Unites States Government founded the Human Genome Project (HGP). This program was to research and study the estimated 80,000 human genes and determine the sequences of 3 billion DNA molecules. Knowing and being able to examine each sequence could change how humans respond to diseases, viruses, and toxins universal to everyday life. With the technology of today the HGP expects to have a blueprint of all human DNA sequences by the spring of 2000. This accomplishment, even though not cloning, presents other new issues for privates and society. For this reason the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) was brought in to identify and address these issues. They operate to secure the individuals rights to those who contribute DNA samples for studies. The ELSI, being the biggest bioethics program, has to decide on important factors when an individuals personal DNA is calculated. Such factors would include who would have access to the inf ormation, who controls and protects the information and when to use it? Along with these concerns, the ESLI tries to prepare for the estimated impacts that genetic advances could be responsible for in the near future. The availability of such information is becoming to broad and one needs to be concerned where society is going with it.The next step after scientists have identified and studied adult DNA would be to copy it.