For this week’s dose of science news, Blogger Erik decided to discuss artificial wombs and what that may mean for the future.
By Erik Bearman, Science Editor
In a galaxy far, far away, on the ocean world of Kamino, the Kaminoan scientists grew clones using artificial wombs in their laboratories. This may seem like a crazy sci-fi trope, but artificial wombs actually aren’t so crazy. In fact, scientists have already had success in the past.
In 1990, Japanese scientists removed a lamb fetus from its mother and grew it inside a container filled with amniotic fluid for 17 days until it was successfully delivered.
Later, in 2017, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia placed another lamb fetus inside an experimental artificial womb and allowed it to develop until it opened its eyes! Researchers now claim that “Human trials may be possible in a few years” (bbc.com).
Earlier this year, Israeli scientists successfully grew mouse embryos in a mechanical womb (www.technologyreview.com). One day, in the near future, humans could be grown in similar wombs.
What Artificial Wombs May Look Like . . .
Imagine a machine consisting of three parts:
- The growth chamber, which replicates the optimal conditions inside a mother’s womb.
- The blood container, which supplies the fetus with oxygen-rich blood.
- The sensors, which uses an A.I. to scan and monitor the fetus’s health.
This version of the artificial womb is one of the most practical designs as it is simple yet effective. It can also display updates on the fetus’s health in real-time.
Another version of the artificial womb is a giant, red ball that also simulates the natural environment of the organic womb. Tubes are connected to the ball that deliver blood, oxygen, and necessary medication. The womb is not see-through, as the lack of stimulation in darkness is more beneficial to the fetus.
Why Artificial Wombs Can Be Beneficial
According to bbc.com, “Premature birth, before 37 weeks, is globally the biggest cause of death among newborns.” Incubators can help some newborns develop, but they don’t work for all cases. An artificial womb, however, would work in most. Doctors could place the baby in an environment that allows it to continue developing until it is ready for a safe, healthy birth.
Another way artificial wombs can benefit us is by allowing humans to explore the cosmos more effectively. In Interstellar, the scientists in the movie were planning on sending fertilized eggs to a viable planet in order to grow and continue the human race. While it’s certainly a great back-up plan if humans and this planet go extinct, it is also a great way to spread to other planets and start colonizing early, setting up bases where the next generation could develop and build a society for themselves.
Who knows? Perhaps my children will be grown in one of these chambers? Perhaps yours will, too?
Second Editor-in-Chief: Sara Habibipour
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Very pertinent topic to myself. I am a woman that at one time had no option but to find a surrogate to carry a child if I had not the chance to adopt a child. During my childbearing years it was found. was not capable of going full-term for health reasons. I was blessed with the chance to adopt but ended up working with the fertility doctor that was trying to help me and served as a psychotherapist to work with women that opted to become surrogates. The complexity of child-bearing has broken many science barrier since the first test-tube baby in 1981 in the UK. Incubators for surrogacy has been in the making for almost a decade. The question is like Handsmaid’s Tale, the psychological nature of women bering other people’s children. Most people I have interviewed are willing participants that are rewarded heavily for this duty. However, my job was to assure the potential parents of psychosis, change fo mind and even nefarious ideas. Even when the parties sign legally bound agreements there is always the factor of human error. This is where the incubator comes in but also is a big question. In the ideal condition the incubator is drug-free and overall free of health issues that may occur during pregnancy. But the question that still of concern to reproduction experts is will the human fetus be de-voided of human interaction which is part of our epigenetic outcome. Will the fetus be able to connect with others/ Questions of nature versus nurture come into play. Very thoughtful ideas own your part and someday we may be incubated for the sake of better outcome on human life. We will see….