Dr. Victor Frankenstein and Frankenscience in the 21st Century
Shinya Yamanaka-The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2012
First published Jan. 11, 2025
Mary Shelley in 1818, at age 20, published the provocative novel Frankenstein in which she developed a fictional thesis 200 years ahead of its realization. It may have been the first science fiction novel and explored, presciently, the dark potential of science.
In 2012, nearly two hundred years later, the Japanese scientist, Shinya Yamanaka, won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for describing a method that reprogrammed a mature tissue cell, for example a skin cell, into a pluripotential stem cell. The latter cell can be provoked to differentiate into any type of tissue cell. This transformation of a mature cell was induced by inserting the products of four reprogramming genes into the DNA of the skin cell. The result was a pluripotential cell. “Pluripotential” indicates the single cell has the ability to differentiate into any tissue. Thus, this reprogrammed cell mimics the fertilized egg, capable of forming all tissues of that organism. Yamanaka’s studies were in the rat but the results were replicated in human cells.
Theoretically, if a person needed a kidney, heart, pancreas or liver transplant, for example, it might be done with one’s own organ induced in the laboratory from a single cell. This approach would remove all immune barriers since the donor and recipient are the same person. This result could avoid the risk of rejection of the graft or the need for immunosuppressive drugs for success of the transplant. Scientists have been able to transform skin cells into, for example, brain or heart cells, using chemicals instead of gene insertion, making the process independent of “genetic engineering”. This approach is theoretical because an organ is more than just a cluster of cells. It requires neural innervation and a vasculature and connective tissue. Nevertheless, it is a profound discovery.
More to the point, the pluripotential cell, also, could act as a fertilized egg and one could generate a new individual of that species. This approach is called “reproductive cloning”. Human reproductive cloning is prohibited by general agreement, but animal clones could reinvigorate threatened species or restore extinct ones, for example, the wooly mammoth. The latter is not without controversy, especially if evolutionary factors account for the extinction rather than the intrusion of human activity. The arguments for and against human reproductive cloning are tersely summarized at this link: https://www.geneticsandsociety.org/internal-content/reproductive-cloning-arguments-pro-and-con (last accessed January 6, 2025). Thus, 200 years after Shelley’s fanciful novel, her imaginary story is no longer farfetched.
The San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance’s Frozen Zoo has collected animal cell lines, gametes and embryos, which are an invaluable resource for conservation, assisted reproduction and wildlife medicine. This collection contains 10,000 cell lines from more than 1,000 species and subspecies, some endangered. The cell lines derived from mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish are stored at a temperature of -320ᵒ Fahrenheit. The Frozen Zoo is a genetic cryobank used to study species, produce offspring, restore diversity and, perhaps, rescue species on the verge of extinction. This collection mimics the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, which contains genetic material of 7000 of the world’s food crops.
Thus, 200 years after Shelley’s fanciful novel, her fictional story is no longer farfetched. The possibility of human reproductive cloning has moved it from science fiction to Frankenscience.