It was in the year 1818 when Mary Shelley released her novel ‘Frankenstein’, envisaging the horror of a man-made monster coming to life, but the concept of a constructed technological being has now become a reality with the creation of the world’s first ‘bionic man’. There are however numerous moral and ethical issues underlying these incredible developments in medical engineering and we ask the question how far is too far?

 ‘Rex’, as he is called, is able to see objects through the use of retinal implants and cochlear implants allow him to hear. Continual developments in these medical aids are improving the lives of patients throughout the world, even enabling people who were once blind to be able to process visual information once again.

Rex has a fully functioning heart, pancreas (which secretes its own insulin) and liver, all of which have the capacity to be transplanted into a human to replace their failing organ. These medically engineered organs act to match the capacity of our own but the speed at which the development of engineered replacement parts for the human body is occurring and their level of efficiency certainly raises some ethical issues.

 ‘We define bionic as using electromechanics to at least emulate biological function and perhaps one day go beyond biological function’. This statement by Hugh Herr, a leading biomechanical engineer, highlights the desire to create engineered limbs with the potential to function more effectively than our own.  Hugh was a teenage climbing prodigy but lost both his legs at the age of 17. He, however, says that he was climbing better with artificial limbs than he achieved before his accident with biological limbs and wouldn’t ever wish to have his biological limbs back. This is a remarkable statement but Professor George Annas of Boston University states that ‘The danger is, we might change what it means to be human’ and in relation to transplanting artificial hearts asks ‘Is it acceptable that just the rich people get artificial hearts?’

This is a question that Bertolt Meyer, who himself has a bionic arm, also asks. Bertolt believes that decisions need to be made on the ethics of transplants before the technology becomes available whereby people may transplant their fully functioning limbs in order to gain functionally more capable artificial ones.

However, many believe that this type of research still has a way to go. Whilst a bionic arm is able to lift incredible weights, the dexterity and aesthetic aspect of artificial arms for example, still leaves a lot to be desired.

 As it is, artificial limbs and organs are already changing the lives of people who actually have a great need for them and these will continue to impact upon patients. We may not however have Frankenstein like human beings yet, but with the rapid advances in technology and desire to go ‘beyond normal biological function’, the prospect perhaps seems possible and questions about the ethics of unnecessary artificial transplants will certainly not fade.

 Tim Knight

Photograph: Channel 4