Ethics of the Prophets (standard:science fiction, 1259 words)
Author: Eutychus	Added: Nov 06 2002	Views/Reads: 3647/2286	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
What happens when stem cell research reaches it's logical end. Somebody needs to think these things through!

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

that went as fast as the new speed limits allowed that would still pass 
emissions tests, the government changed the levels of emissions 
acceptability. That meant the ozone layer thinned out some more and we 
had to come up with a way to grow skin in larger quantities faster. 
Things just worked out better all around.” 

“And then there are those people who have trouble dealing with a
replacement part grown from an embryo. Psychologists and psychiatrists 
are busier than ever helping folks deal with their guilt feelings, and 
in the end everyone is happy. The affected eventually feel better about 
it and live better as a result, the psychiatrists stay busy, and 
everyone is better off.” 

At this point, the only problem that remains is the care and maintenance
of replacement organs. While the ability to grow a heart for someone is 
an almost miraculous accomplishment, it still takes five months from 
stem cell to organ. That means that you either need foreknowledge 
regarding when your heart muscle is going to cramp up for the last time 
or you must have a repository of organs on hand, a necessity that is 
neither cheap nor cost effective.  We can usually grow a heart that 
will be viable for three years after which it must be abandoned and 
another grown, in my opinion a terrible waste of our resources and the 
patient's money for the growth and upkeep of an unused organ. 

“Well I've got to run. I'm expected to make an appearance at my great
great grandson's birthday party tonight, so I'll have to take a 
raincheck on the racquetball.” 

“Okay, see you Monday.” 

Half an hour later I arrived at my great grandson's house. I spent some
time chatting with the parents of the birthday boy and then sat down 
with the younger man to have some meaningful intergenerational 
discussion. 

“So what are they teaching you in school these days?” I asked, though I
already had a fair idea of the curriculum. At age 7, he was probably 
being introduced to calculus, beginning a second language and hearing 
about bioethics in health. We had talked to the N.E.A. eighty years 
earlier about the importance of their role in making the new 
technologies seem friendly to the future users of those technologies. 
To that end, a comprehensive plan was developed that set the stage 
early in the academic career for a life drama that was expected to 
include growing your own replacement parts at some point. 

“This week we talked about the kind of work you do, Grampa.” 

“And what do you think I do?” 

“You make hearts for people with bad ones. A fertilized egg divides to a
mass of about two hundred cells, some stem cells are removed, and an 
organ is grown from those cells. The cells grow in a nurturing machine 
until the organ is mature enough to do the job it was meant to do. The 
teacher told us that this is a perfectly safe and moral way of dealing 
with illness and not something to give a lot of thought to. It is 
perfectly ethical and acceptable.” 

“And what did you learn from all this?” 

“Oh . . . NUTHIN'!” 


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