PAPER Topics

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In 1951 Carl Djerassi, with the Mexican pharmaceutical company Syntex, developed the first oral contraceptive by synthesizing and altering the natural hormone Progesterone into a superpotent, highly effective oral progestational hormone called ....

Middle of Term Paper
... into the possibilities of where this would lead. I believe Djerassi, similar to most scientists of his day, was so entranced by the excitement of synthesizing his product and achieving his goal that he did not stop to think of the ramifications of his accomplishment. The ethical dilemma was not explored before hand, and this to me is the great tragedy of most scientific discovery, since I firmly believe each scientist is responsible for that which he creates. Djerassi does confront a few questions of ethics and morality after the fact. On page 61, in chapter 6, he reflects on the argument of the use of poor Mexican and Puertorrican women for ...