An artificial womb
successfully grew baby sheep
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Inside what look like oversized ziplock bags strewn with tubes of blood and fluid, eight fetal lambs continued to develop — much like they would have inside their mothers. Over four weeks, their lungs and brains grew, they sprouted wool, opened their eyes, wriggled around, and learned to swallow, according to a new study that takes the first step toward an artificial womb. One day, this device could help to bring premature human babies to term outside the uterus — but right now, it has only been tested on sheep.
It’s appealing to imagine a world where artificial wombs grow babies, eliminating the health risk of pregnancy. But it’s important not to get ahead of the data, says Alan Flake, fetal surgeon at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and lead author of today’s study. “It’s complete science fiction to think that you can take an embryo and get it through the early developmental process and put it on our machine without the mother being the critical element there,” he says.
Instead, the point of developing an external womb — which his team calls the Biobag — is to give infants born months too early a more natural, uterus-like environment to continue developing in, Flake says.
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MY OPINION
This is not news to readers of hard science fiction. Lois Bujold explored the concept long ago in her Vorkosigan Saga. For most of us the question is has not been if but when.
So...it's finally happened. The doctor who said
“It’s complete science fiction to think that you can take an embryo and get it through the early developmental process and put it on our machine without the mother being the critical element there,”
Might be right, for now but what he and his team are doing right now was 'complete science fiction" up until just recently. So were brain implants , which Lois also considers and which are currently being developed by other scientists RIGHT NOW. The doctor might be considering and trying to avoid the negative effects on his research that is sure to happen if the wackos (both right and left wing) were to realize what the implications are and get their panties in a wad. (marchs everywhere ). He's obviously aware of the uproar about golden rice, genetically modified organisms and even vaccine. He is no doubt attempting to avoid flak from those Luddites.
I can't say as I blame him. I am really hoping that he is successful and the program progresses. The ability to transfer an embryo from the mother to the _Utereine Replicator (which sound SO much better than _BioBag don't you think?) will transform our society in many ways, mostly for the good I think. Abortion will NO LONGER be needed except for very rare cases. In fact it will probably be made illegal (as it should be) without a court order. If a woman doesn't want the baby, transfer it to the biobag . There are other considerations, such as who would be responsible for its upbringing, educational, medical and living expenses, but perhaps the mother should have considered that before she became pregnant?
Whatever the case it will be an alternative to killing the millions of babies that are currently killed every year, world wide, today.