Mary Shelley's novel Frankenstein depicts the discovery of the secret of life by a young medical student, Victor Frankenstein, which he uses to animate (resurrect) a monster created by the surgical assembly of dead body parts. Having succeeded in his quest, Frankenstein then rejects his creation, with terrible consequences.

The three themes of Frankenstein--surgical manipulation of body parts, resurrection, and the bioethical consequences of engaging powers we do not morally know how to use--have followed research in biology and medicine through the 20th century and now into the 21st century, with the emergence of the field of regenerative biology and medicine. In this lecture, I trace these themes through the technology of organ and cell transplants, the quest for the universal cell donor through embryological resurrection, and finally to the vision of chemical induction of regeneration directly at the site--of injury--the "holy grail" of regenerative biology and medicine.