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Deadly cureEthical melodramaDEADLY CURE 'Deadly Cure' is the sequel to another novel, 'Lethal Harvest', by the same co-authors (reviewed in EN, January 2001). It too aims to deal with the ethical issues raised by developments in biogenetics from a Christian perspective. The storyline is gripping, containing all the ingredients one expects to find in a novel. I did find the rapid flitting from one scene to another, then back again, in the later chapters rather overplayed. For readers unfamiliar with medical jargon and abbreviations, or who find detailed descriptions of operations disconcerting, sections of this novel may prove daunting. This ought not to dissuade you from reading Deadly Cure though. The issue is, how well have the writers succeeded in their objective? Does the novel leave the reader better informed about the ethical issues that Cutrer and Glahn intend to communicate? This novel left me dominated by a romance that triumphed even when a deadly disease threatened it. The couple live happily ever after! I am not sure that Christian ethical and biogenetic issues emerge so clearly. For example, Dr. Courtney Park steals stem cells, engaging in serious professional misconduct. Her boss, Dr. Ben McKay, who is a Christian, forgives her, to which she responds: 'You're not going to make me pay?' McKay replies, 'Somebody already did, Courtney, 2,000 years ago', a point taken a little further later in the book, but even then not adequately explained. Dr. McKay himself suffers from liver failure shortly before his marriage to a widow whose late husband had specialised in stem cell research. Late at the eleventh hour, replacement liver cells grown from non-embryonic stem cells, ethically acceptable to Christians, are used to successfully treat the doctor, who recovers. I was left wondering whether this implies too strongly that embryonic stem cells will not be required in future in the real world. The challenge of ethics and biogenetics is highly complex, not least of all for Christians. Today's world has little time for the Christian recognition that humankind is made in God's image and likeness, even in the earliest embryonic stage. A Christian with a life-threatening disease that may be cured by replacement organs grown from embryonic stem cells needs to know how to respond if offered this treatment. Most surgeons in Britain are likely to view these issues pragmatically - if the technology exists it should be used without the ethical questions or restraints demanded by Christians. Deadly Cure left me doubting that the writers have been as successful in achieving their objective as they were with Lethal Harvest. Nevertheless, it does again highlight the challenge for stem cell and related research and technology that is transparently compatible with the biblical and Christian declaration of the unique creation of humankind. Derek J. Lewis, Dudley© Evangelicals Now - September 2002 |