Ectogenesis
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Ectogenesis (from the
Human embryos and fetuses
Ectogenesis of human embryos and fetuses would require an
Ectogenesis could also be a means by which
Synthetic embryo
In 2022, Jacob Hanna and his team at the Weizmann Institute of Science created early "embryo-like structures'" from mice stem cells.[7][8] The world's first synthetic embryo does not require sperm, eggs nor fertilization and were grown from only embryonic stem cells (ESCs) or also from stem cells other than ESCs.[7] The structure had an intestinal tract, early brain and a beating heart and a placenta with a yolk sac around the embryo.[7] The researchers said it could lead to better understanding of organ and tissue development, new sources of cells and tissues for human transplantation.[7] However, human synthetic embryos are a long ways off.[7] Their research was published by Cell on August 1, 2022.[6]
Also in August 2022, a study described how University of Cambridge and the same Weizmann Institute of Science scientists[6] created a synthetic embryo with a brain and a beating heart by using stem cells (also some stem cells other than ESCs). No human eggs nor sperm were used. They showed natural-like development and some survived until day 8.5 where early organogenesis, including formation of foundations of a brain, occurs. Scientists hope it can be used to create synthetic human organs for transplantation.[9][10]
The embryos grew in vitro and subsequently ex utero in an artificial womb published the year before by the Hanna team in Nature,[11] and was used in both studies. The two studies were considered a milestone achievement, but the research is controversial. Potential applications include "uncovering the role of different genes in birth defects or developmental disorders", gaining "direct insight into the origins of a new life", "understand[ing] why some pregnancies fail", and developing sources "of organs and tissues for people who need them".[9][12][13][14] The term 'synthetic embryo' in the title of the second study was later changed to the alternative term, "Embryo model".[10]
On 6 September 2023, Nature published research that the Weizmann Institute team created the first complete human day 14 post-implantation embryo models[15] from naïve ES cells expanded in special naive conditions developed by the same team in 2021.[16] It uses reprogrammed genetically unmodified naïve stem cells to become any type of body tissue.[15][17] The embryo model (termed and abbreviated as SEM) mimics all the key structures like a "textbook image" of a human day-14 embryo.[17][15]
Bioethical considerations
The development of artificial uteri and ectogenesis raises a few bioethical and legal considerations, and also has important implications for reproductive rights and the abortion debate.
Artificial uteri may expand the range of
There are also theoretical concerns that children who develop in an artificial uterus may lack "some essential bond with their mothers that other children have";[21] a secondary issue to woman's rights over their own body.
In the 1970 book The Dialectic of Sex, feminist Shulamith Firestone wrote that differences in biological reproductive roles are a source of gender inequality. Firestone singled out pregnancy and childbirth, making the argument that an artificial womb would free "women from the tyranny of their reproductive biology."[22][23]
See also
- Ectopic pregnancy
- Endometrium
- IVF
- Placenta
- Uterus
- Amniotic fluid
- Apheresis
- ECMO
- Hemodialysis
- Liver dialysis
- TPN
- Tissue engineering
References
- ^ yourdictionary.com > ectogenesis In turn citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, 2010 by Wiley Publishing
- ^ ectogenesis. CollinsDictionary.com. Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 11th Edition. Retrieved September 23, 2012
- ^ "Artificial Wombs Are Coming, but the Controversy Is Already Here". Motherboard. 4 August 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
- PMID 11649763.
- ^ ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 2023-10-25.
- ^ PMID 35988542.
- ^ a b c d e "Scientists create world's first 'synthetic embryos'". The Guardian. August 3, 2022. Archived from the original on August 3, 2022.
- ^ "¬Post-Gastrulation Synthetic Embryos Generated Ex Utero from Mouse Naïve ESCs". Cell. August 1, 2022. Archived from the original on August 4, 2022.
- ^ a b "Synthetic embryo with brain and beating heart created by University of Cambridge scientists". Cambridge Independent. 1 September 2022. Archived from the original on September 17, 2022.
- ^ S2CID 251843659.
- ISSN 1476-4687.
- S2CID 251843735.
- ^ "Synthetischer Embryo entwickelt Organe". www.sciencemediacenter.de. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ Holcombe, Madeline. "A synthetic embryo, made without sperm or egg, could lead to infertility treatments". CNN. Retrieved 16 September 2022.
- ^ a b c "Complete human day 14 post-implantation embryo models from naïve ES cells". Nature. Nature (journal). 6 September 2023. Archived from the original on 6 September 2023.
- PMC 8423434.
- ^ a b "Scientists grow whole model of human embryo, without sperm or egg". BBC. BBC. September 6, 2023. Archived from the original on September 6, 2023.
- S2CID 57105464.
- ^ Chessen, Matt (2013-03-02). "Artificial Wombs Could Outlaw Abortion". Mattlesnake.com.
- S2CID 3808881.
- S2CID 36754378. Archived from the original(PDF) on 2013-09-11. Retrieved 2013-06-28.
- ^ Chemaly, Soraya (23 February 2012). "What Do Artificial Wombs Mean for Women?". RH Reality Check.
- ^ Rosen, Christine (2003). "Why Not Artificial Wombs?" (PDF). The New Atlantis.
Further reading
- Coleman, Stephen (2004). The Ethics Of Artificial Uteruses: Implications For Reproduction And Abortion. Burlington, VT: Ashgate Pub. ISBN 978-0-7546-5051-5.
- Gelfand, Scott, ed. (2006). Ectogenesis: Artificial Womb Technology and the Future of Human Reproduction. Amsterdam [u.a.]: Rodopi. ISBN 978-90-420-2081-8.
