Artificial uterus
An artificial uterus, also known as an artificial womb, is an experimental device designed to enable premature fetuses to develop outside their mother's body. This concept, while reminiscent of science fiction, has roots in centuries of research into reproduction and gestation. Initial developments began with incubators for premature infants in the late 19th century, evolving into more sophisticated technologies that aim to support fetal growth in controlled environments. One notable advancement occurred in 2017, when researchers created the Biobag, a device that allowed lamb fetuses to thrive in a synthetic amniotic fluid environment, effectively mimicking the conditions of a natural womb.
While the technology shows promise in potentially saving the lives of premature infants—who face significant risks and health challenges—there are ethical concerns surrounding its use. Questions arise about the safety of human trials, the implications of growing embryos outside a woman's body, and how this technology might alter traditional notions of childbirth and reproduction. As research continues, discussions about the societal, medical, and ethical ramifications of artificial uteruses remain crucial for addressing both hopes and concerns associated with this groundbreaking technology.
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Artificial uterus
An artificial uterus, also called an artificial womb, is an experimental device that could allow a premature fetus of a human or other living organism to continue to grow outside of its mother's body. As of early 2018, the device has only been tested on lamb fetuses. Human trials were expected in two to three years, and scientists continued to study and test the artificial uteruses.
Background
While artificial uteruses seem like the subject of science fiction stories, they have been in development for centuries. In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, scientists examined animals, chicken eggs, and even deceased pregnant women's bodies in attempts to understand reproduction, pregnancy, and gestation. In 1880, Etienne Stéphane Tarnier, a French obstetrician, built a wooden incubator-like structure with an area to hold a hot-water bottle to host premature infants. The device helped to reduce the chances of death in infants born too early.
In 1924, British scientist J.B.S. Haldane coined the term ectogenesis. The word means "development outside of the body." Haldane used the term to refer to human pregnancy with the aid of artificial wombs. He imagined that artificial uteruses would become so popular that by 2074, about 30 percent of all babies would be born using artificial uteruses rather than natural pregnancy. He described a method in which scientists could remove an ovary from a woman and keep it in an environment that allows it to keep producing an ovum each month. The ovum could then be fertilized to become an embryo, and the embryo grown in the artificial uterus.
Tarnier's incubator device became a reality in the 1950s when more technologically sophisticated incubators were developed. Within a decade, scientists began to test and run experiments on incubators in an effort to develop technology to support growing fetuses that cannot be supported by the human body. One of these early inventions was an artificial placenta. The purpose of the artificial organ was to provide life support for a fetus until it grows enough to survive on its own. Scientists used animal fetuses from lambs, goats, and rabbits to test these experimental artificial placentas, but they all failed.
In the 1980s, scientists in Tokyo, Japan, began to have some luck with artificial womb experiments with goats. In the late 1990s, researchers announced that they had successfully removed a seventeen-week-old goat fetus from its mother's uterus and placed it in an extrauterine fetal incubator, or external incubator. The extrauterine fetal incubator contained warm amniotic-like liquid and supplied the goat fetus with nutrients through a tube in its umbilical cord. The goat fetus survived for three weeks and then died. While the goat did not survive, it helped researchers learn much about external incubators and gave hope to someday developing artificial uteruses for humans.
Into the 2000s, researchers continued to examine interspecies gestation in animals. They postulated that maybe one day a human fetus could be partially gestated in an animal uterus. Researchers in China in 2002 attempted to create hybrid panda-rabbit embryos and implant them into rabbit wombs. This experiment was unsuccessful. In Spain, however, scientists were successful at producing ibex kids from ibex embryos implanted in domestic goats. In the United States, researchers at the University of California and Iowa State University continued to study interspecies and hybrid pregnancies as ways to protect endangered species.
Topic Today
One of the most promising developments in artificial uteruses came in 2017. A team of researchers from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) created an artificial uterus. In April, researchers from the CHOP study described the device that allowed premature lamb fetuses to continue to develop normally outside the womb. The lamb fetuses were equivalent in age to a twenty-three- to twenty-five-week-old human premature fetus.
The artificial uterus, which is called a Biobag, is an oversized plastic bag filled with synthetic amniotic fluid. The lamb fetus was placed inside the bag. Outside of the bag, a machine was attached to the lamb's umbilical cord via tubes providing nutrition, transporting oxygen to the blood, and removing carbon dioxide from the blood. The Biobags with the lamb fetuses were kept in a warm, dark space. Sounds of the mother's heartbeat were played for the fetuses. Researchers monitored the fetuses with ultrasounds.
The CHOP researchers studied the eight lamb fetuses placed in Biobags. In one month, the lambs' brains and lungs developed, they opened their eyes, they moved, they grew wool, and they learned to swallow. Although only lamb fetuses were tested, the findings allowed scientists to remain hopeful that one day they could use the Biobags to save premature fetuses.
The purpose of the Biobag is to provide fetuses born too early with an environment similar to that of their mother's uterus to allow them to develop more naturally. Full-term gestation for a baby is about forty weeks, and any baby born before thirty-six weeks is considered premature. More than 80 percent of babies born at twenty-three weeks or sooner do not survive. The babies that do survive may face serious health issues, such as blindness, deafness, learning disabilities, and other conditions, that can last throughout their lives.
While incubators can help provide warmth to premature babies, the babies still must receive nutrition and other medications via tubes inserted in their veins. These tubes are prone to causing infection, which can further compromise a premature baby's health. This is why the development of an artificial uterus is important.
While scientists are close to developing this type of technology for humans, ethical concerns have arose over artificial uteruses. Some people questioned if they would be safe enough to test on human babies. Other individuals worried if the technology would blur the line between keeping a premature fetus alive and growing an embryo. While researchers insist the devices are only to be used for premature fetuses, could the technology eventually allow them to grow a human embryo outside of a woman's body? If so, this could lead to other concerns. Could artificial uteruses eliminate the need for a woman in order to have a child? Could they be used as an alternative to surrogacy? Could insurers insist women use artificial uteruses to avoid expensive and complicated pregnancies and deliveries? As artificial uteruses continue to be researched and developed, much debate surrounds the ethics of their use.
Bibliography
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