This is the moral dilemma that plagues euthanasia and renders it as a controversial subject both in the medical field but also in religion and law. 

But first of all, what is euthanasia? Euthanasia (also referred to as ‘mercy killing’ and ‘assisted suicide’) is the practice of ending a patient’s life in order to relieve the long term or insufferable pain they experience. In this article, we will explore perspectives on why this procedure is not being legalised, and their reasoning behind their standpoints. 

As we may know, the execution of mercy killing typically occurs in hospitals or other specialised facilities like nursing homes – so does this mean medical professionals support euthanasia? The World Medical Association, having held consultative conferences globally on this matter came to the conclusion that it is against physician-assisted suicide, demonstrating their responsibility and respect for maintaining human life.  

What about the Hippocratic Oath? The Hippocratic Oath states the obligations and proper conduct of doctors and is highly regarded in modern medical ethics. The oath stated that “I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan.” Considering there is a substantial percentage of medical students who swear by the oath or similar types of declaration (about 98% of American medical students and 50% of British medical students swear an oath), it is safe to say that the majority of the medical field is against such practices due to the deliberate intent on ending human life.

In addition, how foolproof are euthanasia laws? According to the ‘slippery slope’ argument, if a specific action was to be legalised, then other correlated actions will be permitted as well – in simpler words, ‘down the slippery slope’. It is possible to examine this theory in a case study. For instance, in the Netherlands, euthanasia was only allowed for terminally ill who personally requested it, however it has ‘gone down the slippery slope’ by eventually permitting it for the chronically ill and even for children.

To summarise, despite the seemingly ‘good’ intent of euthanasia ending one’s suffering, there are multiple factors that work against it, like medical professionals who believe it is deliberate and unethical, and the ‘slippery slope’ theory that worries that laws revolving assisted suicide will only lead to more laws allowing such actions, making mercy killing too permissible, even leading to unethical use. 

Afterall, would you allow your loved ones to stop fighting for life if there is a chance, however miniscule – that they will recover? Or will you let go of their hand and allow them to relieve this suffering forever?

Bibliography

Hippocratic Medicine – preserving ancient values. (2024). Christian Medical Fellowship – Cmf.org.uk. https://www.cmf.org.uk/resources/publications/content/?context=article&id=424#:~:text=About%2098%25%20of%20American%20and,features%20of%20the%20Hippocratic%20Oath.

WMA – The World Medical Association-World Medical Association Reaffirms Opposition to Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide. (2014). Wma.net; WMA – The World Medical Association-World Medical Association Reaffirms Opposition to Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide. https://www.wma.net/news-post/world-medical-association-reaffirms-opposition-to-euthanasia-and-physician-assisted-suicide/

Benatar, D. (2011). A Legal Right to Die: Responding to Slippery Slope and Abuse Arguments. Current Oncology, 18(5), 206–207. https://doi.org/10.3747/co.v18i5.923

(2024). Livelaw.in. https://www.livelaw.in/h-upload/images/1600x960_euthanasia.jpg

Standard cancer treatments usually revolve around the fields of chemotherapy and radiation, however, these treatments, while effective, bear side effects after application. These include Neutropenia, a condition when there are too few white blood cells in your system; Lymphedema, the swelling of tissue, Deep Vein Thrombosis, a blood clot formed in the deeper veins in your leg, nerve damage, hair loss, nausea and vomiting and more. In brief, these treatments may adversely impact a patient’s immune system.

This is where alternative treatments come in place, with micro-algae being one of many. However, it is the idea of deriving the natural anti-cancerous properties from flora and fauna that differs from other complementary methods.

Inside microalgae, there are a few types of bioactive molecules present, including carotenoids, different types of polysaccharides, vitamins, sterols, fibres, and minerals. As can be seen, microalgae have a diverse range of chemical constituents and biomass, as well as substantial potential for the first step in developing nonmalignant drugs. 

In the past, such properties of microalgae were utilised in the production of food supplements and gelling substances. However, it is in recent years that microalgae has been put under the spotlight in cancer research. One of the investigations involved studying the potential anti-carcinogenic effect of microalgal extracts, which can decrease the risk of getting cancer. It was summarized that they had an ability to induce programmed cancer cell death through caspase-dependent or independent pathways, both triggers of apoptosis, and the elimination of unwanted cells.

Multiple investigations have found that certain algae-derived compounds were able to attune several cellular mechanisms such as cellular cytotoxicity (the degree to which a substance can cause damage to a cell), downregulate invasion of tumour cells, and enhancement of cancer cell apoptosis. 

A specific example of a carotenoid (essential pigments in photosynthetic organs along with chlorophylls) found in microalgae, diatom, and brown seaweeds is fucoxanthin. This particular carotenoid, through findings from cellular and molecular investigations, was able to prevent the growth of malignant cells, stimulate cancer suppressor genes, and arrest cell cycles – all while uninterrupting tumour cells apoptosis. Blue-green microalgae have also been discovered that they bear antitumour capacity as well. Such insights of the fucoxanthin and blue-green microalgae may improve tumour therapy on humans.

Cancer is one of the most common causes of death globally. Our immune systems, being complex and diverse, require adequate treatments that are both effective and safe in the long term. Microalgae could be one of the first types of treatment that could fulfil both criterias, having gained significant attention in recent years due to the developments in cancer treatment. Despite the research being in its early stages, there is an accumulating amount of evidence and ongoing research that supports their therapeutic benefits. Nonetheless, it is astounding to see that flora and fauna have possibly provided us the antidote to one of the deadliest diseases known to humankind.

Bibliography

1. Abd, M. E., Abdelnour, S. A., Mahmoud Alagawany, Abdo, M., Sakr, M. A., Khafaga, A. F., Mahgoub, S. A., Elnesr, S. S., & Gebriel, M. G. (2019). Microalgae in modern cancer therapy: Current knowledge. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 111, 42–50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2018.12.069
2. Apoptosis. (2023). Genome.gov. https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary/apoptosis#:~:text=Apoptosis%20is%20the%20process%20of,a%20role%20in%20preventing%20cancer
3. Jiří Komárek, & Johansen, J. R. (2015). Filamentous Cyanobacteria. Elsevier EBooks, 135–235. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-385876-4.00004-9
4. Martínez, K. A., Lauritano, C., Romano, G., & Ianora, A. (2018). Marine Microalgae with Anti-Cancer Properties. Marine Drugs, 16(5), 165–165. https://doi.org/10.3390/md16050165
5. Saxena, A., Raj, A., & Tiwari, A. (2022). Exploring the Anti-cancer Potential of Microalgae. IntechOpen EBooks. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104831
6. Saloni Dattani, Spooner, F., Ritchie, H., & Roser, M. (2023, September 22). Causes of Death. Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/causes-of-death#:~:text=In%20the%20past%2C%20infectious%20diseases,common%20causes%20of%20death%20globally

Aquariums such as Marineland, SeaWorld, Steinhart Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), have, attempted to house Great Whites, but to no avail. The longest lasting only 6 months, as achieved by Monterey Bay Aquarium in 2004.

The first step to maintaining a Great White is that you need a big tank. In this case, MBA designed an 1 million gallon egg-shaped tank about 11 metres deep. 

The second step is to target a certain age group of sharks. Adult sharks tend to be almost 5 metres long, so MBA acquired a shark less than a year old, with a drastically shorter length of approximately 1.2 metres.

The third step is to keep the Great white captive in an ocean pen. This is so that they can monitor the shark before transporting it to an aquarium.

The fourth step is to design a custom built transport tank with life support. This includes video cameras, lighting and filtration systems that will monitor and adjust accordingly to the shark’s condition over the span of 9 to 11 hours. The necessity of the tank lies in the fact that Great Whites, unlike most fish, can’t execute buccal pumping, a type of breathing where most species can open and close their mouths in order to pump water through. Instead, Great Whites have to continuously swim through the water with their mouths wide open — which is exactly why they become weaker as soon as they are captured in a net.

However, the Great White in MBA was released after 6 and a half months, after it feasted on 2 other sharks.

A reason why Great Whites don’t last long is that they constantly bump into the sides of the tank, causing them to fail and weaken. 

Another reason is that more pelagic sharks such as the Great white, Hammerhead or blue sharks like to roam around the vast ocean. This can be seen from a tagged Great white, where it swam long distances without hindrances, changing directions only as it pleased.

As described by Jon Heoch, Director of husbandry operations at MBA, “It’s a very very very resource intensive program and we felt like we had accomplished our goal of introducing the general public to a live white shark.”

Bibliography

Vox. (2016). Why no aquarium has a great white shark [YouTube Video]. In YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMbHLF_zwjs

Allen, F. (2022, July 14). Jaw-dropping moment world’s toughest great white shark Brutus goes in for the kill in incredible u… The Sun; The Sun. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/19201137/worlds-toughest-great-white-shark-brutus-video/