Talk on Bioethics & Literature by Marta B. Gallego

About This Event

We meet in the Catechesis Room in the Parish Hall (through the main door and up the stairs, then the first room on your left) Was 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson advocating for assisted suicide in her poem 'The Heart Asks Pleasure First'? How does the interface between literature and bioethics call us back to the heart of God? In this session, Marta will evaluate the concept of Bioethics as a link between the humanities and the sciences. Then, she will introduce areas of overlap between Bioethics and Literature and demonstrate some ways in which they can enlighten one another in their exploration of the human condition. For instance, how can poetry serve as a means by which patients convey the often-unquantifiable experience of pain or to communicate how the distant promises of genomic medicine affect individuals with rare disease? In addition, Marta will suggest how Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein may help when assessing the ethics of genome editing, mistrust in medical expertise, human enhancement, or the regulation of scientific research. After discussing these and other examples, Marta will illustrate how the Church steers bioethics in a direction congruent with Catholic anthropology. Marta read Biomedical Sciences at University College London (2016-2019) specialising in the neuropharmacology of the brain. Alongside her academic work, she served as President of Christians in Science at UCL and has been a science and faith communicator for initiatives such as God and the Big Bang. In 2020, she obtained a PGCE in Biology from King's College London. Since July of that same year, Marta has been teaching at Nicholas Breakspear Catholic School where she serves staff and students as Head of Biology, Second in Science, and as part of her SLT secondment. In September 2025, Marta completed an MA in Theology at St Mary's University, Twickenham. Her dissertation on the contributions of Pius XII and John Paul Il to the field of Bioethics was supervised by Dr Pia Matthews. In her spare time, Marta is a presenter and moderator for Radio Maria England's Science and Faith show and has co-directed the ECLAS-funded projects Faith Journeys in Science and NBS Science and Faith Symposiums. Afterwards we will head next door to the Church for our usual time of Adoration, and after that to the pub. We look forward to seeing you there!

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