DOI: https://doi.org/10.7203/metode.8.10498

A science fiction implant: Organ transplants in literature


Abstract


Long before the first successful transplants were performed on humans, some writers had wrote about them in fiction. In this article, we show some examples and explain how even seemingly crazy ideas were inspired by real experiments. Starting from the 1970s, when transplants had already been standardised, some narratives started to pose real problems such as the lack of donors. The works mentioned here show the importance of literature and its contributions to the ethical and social debate surrounding transplants. They can also spread those debates to many other sectors.

Keywords


transplants; literature; bioethics; Russian science fiction; organ donation

Full Text:

PDF

References


  1. Alas, L. (1989). La Regenta. Madrid: Cátedra.

  2. Alonso, J. R. (2013). Los milagros de San Cosme, San Damián y Pedro Cavadas. Retrieven on 3 July 2017 from https://jralonso.es/2013/02/28/los-milagros-de-san-cosme-san-damian-y-pedro-cavadas

  3. Alsina, J. (2014). Ombres de foc. Maçanet de la Selva: Gregal. 

  4. Barker, C. F., & Markmann, J. F. (2013). Historical overview of transplantation. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 3(4), a014977. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a014977

  5. Beliáiev, A. (2013). La cabeza del profesor Dowell. Barcelona: Alba. 

  6. Bulgákov, M. (1993). Cor de gos. Barcelona: Club Editor.

  7. Canavero, S. (2013). HEAVEN: The head anastomosis venture Project outline for the first human head transplantation with spinal linkage (GEMINI). Surgical Neurology International, 4, s335–342. doi: 10.4103/2152-7806.113444

  8. Darwin, C. (1984). L’origen de l’home. Sobre la selecció en relació amb el sexe. Barcelona: Biblioteca Clàssics de la Ciència.

  9. De Kerangal, M. (2015). Reparar els vius. Barcelona: Angle.

  10. De Manuel, J. (2001). El cor. En Disseccions (pp. 11–21). Barcelona: Proa.  

  11. Fabregat, R. (1997). La dama de glaç. Lleida: Pagès. 

  12. Hunter, J. (1835). The works of John Hunter: with notes. London: Longman, Rees, Orme, Brown, Green and Longman.

  13. Ishiguro, K. (2006). No em deixis mai. Barcelona: Empúries. 

  14. Krementsov, N. (2009). Off with your heads: Isolated organs in early Soviet science and fiction. Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 40(2),  87–100. doi: 10.1016/j.shpsc.2009.03.001

  15. Kureishi, H. (2004). El cuerpo. Barcelona: Anagrama. 

  16. Machado, C., Korein, J., Ferrer, Y., Portela, L., García, M. C., & Manero, J. M. (2007). The concept of brain death did not evolve to benefit organ transplants. Journal of Medical Ethics, 33(4), 197–200. doi: 10.1136/jme.2006.016931

  17. Mollaret, P., & Goulon, M. (1959). Le coma dépassé (mémoire préliminaire). Revue de Néurologie, 101, 3–15.

  18. Pratt, D. J. (2001). Signs of science. Literature, science, and Spanish modernity since 1868. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press.

  19. Silverberg, R. (1986). Trasplante obligatorio. In I. Asimov, C. G. Waugh, & M. H. Greenberg (Eds.), Trasplante obligatorio. La biología en la ciencia ficción (pp. 120–133). Barcelona: Martínez Roca. 

  20. Voragine, S. (2016). La leyenda dorada. Madrid: Alianza.




Bookmark and Share



Creative Commons LicenseTexts in the journal are –unless otherwise indicated– published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________