H.P. Lovecraft and the science of resuscitation

The first horrible incident of our acquaintance was the greatest shock I ever experienced, and it is only with reluctance that I repeat it. As I have said, it happened when we were in the medical school where West had already made himself notorious through his wild theories on the nature of death and the possibility of overcoming it artificially. His views, which were widely ridiculed by the faculty and by his fellow-students, hinged on the essentially mechanistic nature of life; and concerned means for operating the organic machinery of mankind by calculated chemical action after the failure of natural processes. In his experiments with various animating solutions, he had killed and treated immense numbers of rabbits, guinea-pigs, cats, dogs, and monkeys, till he had become the prime nuisance of the college. Several times he had actually obtained signs of life in animals supposedly dead; in many cases violent signs but he soon saw that the perfection of his process, if indeed possible, would necessarily involve a lifetime of research. It likewise became clear that, since the same solution never worked alike on different organic species, he would require human subjects for further and more specialised progress. It was here that he first came into conflict with the college authorities, and was debarred from future experiments by no less a dignitary than the dean of the medical school himself – the learned and benevolent Dr. Allan Halsey, whose work in behalf of the stricken is recalled by every old resident of Arkham.
~ "From the Dark" (collected in Herbert West: Re-Animator), H.P. Lovecraft

Aschwin de Wolf at Depressed Metabolism has an interesting post about the science of resuscitation in H.P. Lovecraft's 1922 stories about Herbert West: Re-Animator* West is depicted as a serious (and flawed) man of science who invents a reagent that can bring the dead back to life.

West does not only anticipate the future science of resuscitation, but also the phenomenon of selective vulnerability of certain brain cells because we know that West fully realized “that the psychic or intellectual life might be impaired by the slight deterioration of sensitive brain-cells which even a short period of death would be apt to cause.”

As Aschwin points out, though, actual resuscitation is unlikely as described because injection of the serum wasn't followed by some form of artificial circulation. I'm sure there's a good explanation . . .

Read "Herbert West: Re-Animator".

* Herbert West: Re-Animator was originally serialized in Home Brew Vol. 1, No. 1–6, an amateur magazine published by his friend George Julian Houtain." Lovecraft supposedly wrote the stories for the money, and heavily parodied Shelley's Frankenstein. And, yes, the 1980s Re-Animator movie was based on Lovecraft's stories.

Tags:Herbert West: Re-Animator, resuscitation, biology, HP Lovecraft

Aeon Flux is Biological Science Fiction

Nina Munteanu has a nice review of the live-action movie version of Aeon Flux:

Twitchfilm.net aptly called the motion picture “biological science fiction”. Says Oren, Trevor’s treacherous brother who betrays him: “We’ve beaten death. We’ve beaten nature.” The film’s clean organic high-tech look faithfully captures the “sense of biotech gone wild” of the TV series by exploring several paradigms inherent in a society that lives deliberately in the absense of nature’s chaos. Indeed, the lack of connectivity resonates throughout the motion picture in its exploration of friendship, family, loyalty, and purpose.

Both her description of the movie and the animated series that inspired it make them sound worth watching - something I didn't get from the trailer when the movie was released. Go read the whole review.

If you like Aeon Flux, you might be interested in the interactive comic. There is no way for me to link to it directly (curse you flash-only web sites), but you can go to the official Aeon Flux site, click on "Features" in the left menu, then select "Interactive Comic Book."

Tags:Aeon Flux, biotechnology

Amy Sterling Casil: Perfect Strangers

Denny was born with HLHS. That's an acronym for hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Hypoplastic left heart syndrome is universally fatal, if left untreated. Even now, there are babies that do not survive, even with full-lenght clone DNA therapy administered in-utero.
When at five months of pregnancy, Carolyn went for a high-level ultrasound that determined Denny had HLHS, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world to try gene therapy. The doctors explained how the heart healed itself as the baby grew.
~ "Perfect Strangers", Amy Sterling Casil

Amy Sterling Casil's "Perfect Strangers" is a touching story of a father and his genetically engineered son. Her preface notes that the story was inspired by her own experience, which makes it all the more moving for me:

My son Anthony died in 2005. He was born with Down Syndrome. I began thinking about what this story became when the genetic counselor discussed chromosomal abnormalities with me, saying that a cure for them was a long way off, but other genetic illnesses would soon be cured. Every therapy mentioned in the story is currently being developed. The story is fiction; the feelings are real.

While the technology is certainly being discussed and developed, I don't think we are anywhere near to routine human genetic engineering. It's not just that there are technical difficulties (and there are), but serious ethical concerns. Take, for example, this week's report of the first genetically modified human embryo. The scientists didn't attempt to make any changes to human genes; instead they inserted DNA that encodes a fluorescent protein allowing the modified cells could be tracked. The embryo that was used was abnormal and nonviable, and was never intended to implanted or even develop beyond five days. Even so, there research provoked intense debate and discussion. I do believe that genetic engineering technology will eventually improve to the point that it can be used safely in humans, but the ethical concerns that arise from the technology will be harder to overcome.

"Perfect Strangers" was originally published in the September 2006 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction. You can read it free online (pdf).

Tags:science fiction, genetic engineering

Cancer Killing Virus Are Real - But Unlikely to Destroy the Human Race

In the recent movie version of I Am Legend the plague that kills off most of the human race starts off as a genetically modified measles virus that was designed as a cure for cancer. Mutation causes the virus to become lethal, rapidly killing off 90% of the human population. According to Science Daily, the engineered virus the movie depicts (in its cancer-curing, not human-killing, form) came as a big surprise to one virologist:

Early on in the movie, survivor Robert Neville (Will Smith) replays a three-year-old TV interview which foreshadows the impending disaster.

“So, Dr. Krippin, give it to me in a nutshell,” says the TV interviewer.

“Well, the premise is quite simple,” responds the scientist. “Um, take something designed by nature and reprogram it to make it work for the body rather than against it.”

In his airplane seat, Dr. [Patrick] Lee’s jaw is dropping. Not a movie-goer, he didn’t catch the movie in theatres when it came out last Christmas, although a colleague at McGill thought he should.

“That’s my research. I can’t believe it, that’s my research,” he says. “I was the first one to use a virus to target cancer cells.”

Lee's current research at Dalhousie University uses human reovirus, rather than measles, to target cells with an activated form of the proto-oncogene Ras or the Ras signaling pathway. For more information about how the reovirus works, check out this video from Oncolytics Biotech and US Patent 6110461. Clinical trials are currently underway.

Despite the similarity to his research, Lee is certain that his virus won't run amok and destroy the human race.

“I thought the movie was very entertaining but the scenario it presents is highly unlikely, almost impossible,” he says.

With a pause, he adds: “Scientists don’t like to deal in absolutes, but in this case, I would say absolutely impossible."

Hopefully he's right about that . . .

Image: Electron micrograph of Rotavirus, a type of Reovirus.
Tags:I Am Legend, viruses

Science in the Movies: Science Fiction that Gets it Right?

Michael Marshall at New Scientist has picked out five science fiction movies that "contain some accurate, plausible science. They may not be completely realistic, but they get it right when it matters most." Three of their five choices are based on the biological sciences:

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) makes the list for its depiction of how memory is stored.

Sensibly, the film depicts memory as essentially a network of links. In its frenetic second half, Joel is asleep while the technicians "operate" on his mind. We follow as he careens from recent memories of his relationship to those of his earliest childhood.

Alien (1979) gets a thumb up for its depiction of the alien's life cycle, despite it's fantastic growth rate.

Every element of the life cycle can be found in nature, variously in parasites, robber wasps and social insects. Much of the film's suspense comes from the filmmakers' decision to let events unfold without too much explanation – the viewer has to piece the life cycle together for themselves.

Perennial favorite Gattaca (1997) is included for its "grimly plausible vision of a society dominated by genetic prejudice."

The other two on the list are 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), for its depiction of space travel and Solaris (1972, 2002) for its "portrayal of the limits of science and of human understanding."

The great thing about all these movies is not just that (at least some) of the science they depict is plausible, but that they are entertaining. There is no reason why the science has to be awful to make a good movie.

Tags:science fiction, biology, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Alien, Gattaca, movies