In the spring of 2024, surgeons in Massachusetts and New York transplanted the kidneys of genetically mutated pigs into patients whose organs were failing. This newest leap in xenotransplant brings hope for those chained to dialysis machines. Dialysis, now ubiquitous, was once a treatment only available to a few patients whose lives were in the hands of a “God committee” tasked with deciding who received the lifesaving treatment and who did not. These medical milestones are at once marvelous and also the stuff of dystopian nightmares. How then does society find the line between medical genius and playing God? This question has long been debated by ethicists, historians, scientists and doctors, as well as novelists and public intellectuals. This course aims to look at the intersection of medical science, literature and history.
Readings and topics include: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in the context of the Age of Enlightenment and the early scientific revolutions; the early studies of sterile surgery by Joseph Lister and the mass production of sterile surgery products making survival rates soar, (a trip to the Johnson & Johnson museum will highlight this innovation); memoirs of World War II experimentation and Nazi doctors as well as the resulting Nuremberg code; and more contemporary literature such as Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake and Neil Shusterman’s Unwind, looking at the role of dystopian fiction in our perceptions of medical innovation and progress. Students will look at the ethical debates surrounding who gets care and what care is available as well as how policy decisions about research and development are made. This course will ask students to consider the ways we talk about medical innovation and science, and what that means for those involved in those pursuits. Who should make decisions about patient care? What role does public opinion play in scientific advances? Should there be a limit to human intervention in medicine? How has the mentality of “do everything” impacted the process of death and dying? How have the concerns about “playing God” been received and understood in the past and now?
Projects for this course will include a current event analysis, and a final project that could take the shape of an ethical implications report, a traditional research paper, or a museum proposal where students will be tasked with finding primary sources and artifacts on a chosen topic to create a virtual museum exhibit.