Artificial womb: fantasy becomes reality? Artificial womb - a catalyst for selfishness? Artificial womb.
Ectogenesis is the development of a human embryo outside a woman's uterus. Scientists suggest that this will be possible in a quarter of a century. The natural bearing of the baby will be replaced by an artificial womb. It was possible to create a prototype of the womb of a woman. Live embryos are attached to the walls of artificial laboratory wombs, which successfully grow and develop. The scientific experiment is interrupted at the stage of several days of fetal development, because the experiments violate the legislation on artificial insemination.
Supporters of scientific discovery believe that they can solve many problems associated with bearing, giving birth to a baby. The procedure will allow mothers to avoid the risks that are associated with pregnancy and childbirth.
Over the years of research, Japanese and American scientists have come to a common conclusion that a child can naturally develop all nine months outside the mother's body. Under the leadership of the founder of the discovery, R. Friedman, research is underway to create an artificial amniotic fluid and placenta.
Employees at Cornell University are actively conducting animal experiments. 2002 was the year of the birth of a mouse, which was born thanks to an artificial uterus. The animal was born alive, but crippled. After such a result, the researchers agreed that it is possible to work in this industry only with animal embryos.
Japanese scientists turned out to be the leaders of ectogenesis research. At Kitasato University, experiments were carried out on goat embryos for nine years. The latter were removed from the mother's body a few weeks before the birth, two umbrellas were inserted into the body and immersed in a specially created liquid filled with hormones (estrogen) and beneficial substances. Initially, the embryos lived only a day, but over time, their life span was extended to twenty days. The little organism stirred, hiccupped, swallowed.
The research of the Japanese group is aimed at helping those women who suffer from premature births and miscarriages, unable to bear the fetus in the set lines.
For a baby, the mother's womb is the best place for initial development. There you can eat as much as you need, somersault, it's warm and cozy. Will the “artificial mother” be able to give everything the baby needs to grow up as a normal member of the modern society?
The scientific world is divided into two groups. Some support ectogenesis, others are categorically against it. For some, an artificial uterus is a great know-how, for others it is not natural and not aesthetically pleasing.
Opponents constantly prove that mother and cub are connected not only by the transfer of useful substances, oxygen, but this is an emotional and immunological connection. To create such a contact between the embryo and the "artificial mother" you need to spend more than one decade. Babies who are born between twenty-two and twenty-four weeks are at very high risk. Only 30% of such children survive, but no one can guarantee the quality of the future life of such a child. The reason for this is an underdeveloped nervous system, which entails problems with hearing and vision. Babies born between twenty-four and twenty-six weeks are more likely to survive and can be considered almost healthy babies. But it's hard to say whether the modern society is ready for such feats.
Proponents of ectogenesis conclude that the community of modern, developed countries needs artificial childbearing. About 30% of women in Germany remain childless. Many modern women do not have the time and health for pregnancy.
The invention is evaluated diametrically opposite. Some believe that the uterus will be the solution to the problem of childlessness, while others do not perceive it aesthetically. Interestingly, the opponents and part of the supporters of the experiment are against experiments on human embryos, which are subsequently destroyed. Women who wish to have an abortion will have their embryos removed and grown in artificial wombs, resulting in a violation of human rights.
Nevertheless, scientists are sure that sooner or later artificial wombs will be used in reproductive departments, perinatal centers for premature babies.
What will the cultivation of babies outside the body of a woman lead to: the opinion of experts.
Soon, human embryos will be able to develop not in the female uterus, but in an artificial one - this process is called ectogenesis (from the Greek words "ecto" - outside, outside and "genesis" - origin, emergence, origin). Then natural pregnancy becomes optional. It is incredibly difficult, but, nevertheless, there are no biological barriers to this. Such claims are made in the film "Artificial Womb: Birthless Birth" by the Belgian director Marie Mandy (now living in France).
Science and life // Illustrations
Natalia Kan.
Victor Zubkov.
Olga Isupova.
Galina Muravnik.
Sergei Severin.
Hosted by Anna Urmantseva.
Years of intense research
A normal pregnancy lasts 9 months or 40 weeks or 280 days. But, according to one of the pioneers of in vitro fertilization, the French doctor Rene Friedman, after 22 weeks or 160 days, future earthlings are able to develop themselves, outside the mother's body. To help them in this, work is underway to create an artificial placenta and synthetic amniotic fluid.
“After conception, the embryo begins to grow in a special shell, but after 6-7 days it pierces it and attaches to the woman’s uterus,” says Rene Friedman. “However, it could just as well develop in another womb. True, the presence of a womb - natural or artificial - is necessary: without it there will be no development, the organs of a little man will not be able to form.
In a laboratory in Manhattan, 10,000 test-tube babies are grown per year. It's a whole factory of people. 27-28 children are born per day. Laboratory staff believe that a woman should plan her life. If she freezes her egg until a certain age, then she will be able to decide when she will bear and give birth to a child.
Experiments are also being conducted here on growing living beings outside the mother's womb. For example, scientists create an artificial womb, put a mouse embryo in it, and watch how it develops. In 2002, Dr. Liu already raised a mouse in this way. He was born alive, but crippled. Then this event caused a wide public outcry, there were many opinions "for" and "against". After that, Dr. Liu, according to her, reassessed the ethical side of these experiments. She realized that such experiments and their results could greatly change society. After that, she began to work only with mouse embryos, although she had previously conducted research on human embryos.
A goat is artificially raised at Kitasato University in Japan. A few weeks before the birth, he is removed from his mother, two probes are inserted into his body, and he is immersed in a special liquid. You can watch how a premature goat swallows, yawns and hiccups. After half an hour, he starts to move. One of the main tasks, according to the researchers, is to correctly calculate the amount of flow of nutrients entering the body of the experimental creature. If the flow is large, hemorrhage occurs. If it is small, oxygen deficiency occurs. At first, these kids lived only one day. Now - 20 days. It took Dr. Unno and Dr. Kurobara 9 years of intense research to make this progress.
Play and tumble in paradise
Of course, the mother's womb is a paradise for a baby. Here he feels good and comfortable, he can play with the umbilical cord and somersault, which in the future has a beneficial effect on his future motor skills. Many factors influence the development of the fetus. Is it possible to recreate them in an artificial womb - while this question remains unanswered. There are fears that a child raised in this way may suffer from dementia, autism or epilepsy.
The authors of the film cite interesting statistics. There are 95 million pregnant women in the world today. Every second, 5 babies are born. That is, during the time that the viewer watched this film, 15 thousand children were born.
Technically possible, but not soon. And is it necessary?
Based on the results of viewing the documentary, domestic experts were able to express their point of view on the issue raised in it. The creation of an artificial womb, which was mentioned in the film, if it happens, it will not happen soon, says Natalia Kan, head of the obstetric department of the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology. V.I. Kulakov. After all, mother and child are two very complex systems that exist depending on each other. Between them there is not only the transfer of oxygen, hormones, nutrients - it is also very complex immunological relationships, nervous interactions. The fetus does not just grow inside the mother, it gives her its signals, saying what it needs and how this need can be corrected. In order to unravel this “language”, it will take not 15 or 20 years, but at least 50. Yes, it is possible to nurse babies from 22 weeks (from this age, according to the criteria of the World Health Organization, this is no longer a fetus, but a child). But, as N. Kan put it, “their quality of life is not what we would like for our children” and, in general, “the outcomes of nursing babies from 22 to 24 weeks are not very favorable.” The mortality rate is very high - in the region of 70%, despite the fact that the most modern equipment and the latest technologies are used. The reason for such a sad picture is the immaturity of the nervous system. Even if such children survive, they are, as a rule, visually, hearing impaired, and so on.
Babies aged 24-26 weeks have a much greater chance of survival: according to Viktor Zubkov, head of the neonatology and pediatrics department of the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology. V.I. Kulakov, up to 86% of them remain alive. At the same time, the kids are very tiny - only 500 grams each. There are also almost completely healthy ones among them, for example, with minimal brain dysfunctions - they are less assiduous, more mobile. However, V. Zubkov believes that such children can be classified as absolutely healthy. As for the possibility of creating an artificial uterus, it is technically possible - a matter of time, but other aspects come to the fore here - moral, ethical, economic. It is difficult to say how much this innovation is necessary.
double-edged sword
Olga Isupova, senior researcher at the Institute of Demography at the Higher School of Economics, states the fact that women's reproductive desires have probably become smaller. In any case, the number of childless women is growing (if earlier in our country there were 7%, now it is 17-20%), and this is not even due to infertility, but to a complex of reasons: modern life is not very conducive to to be distracted by the birth and upbringing of the child. In Germany, in some generations, up to 30% of women remain childless. Therefore, taking into account these facts, we can conclude that society has a need for an artificial uterus. After all, there are women who want to be mothers, but do not want to be pregnant, sums up O. Isupova.
Any scientific discovery is a two-faced Janus, a double-edged sword that has both a positive and a negative side, believes Galina Muravnik, geneticist, teacher of bioethics at the St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute. It is alarming that many scientists, when developing their revolutionary technologies, do not think about their ethical side. If an artificial uterus helps very premature babies or, for example, women for whom pregnancy is contraindicated for health reasons, this is a boon. But if this degenerates into the fact that some women, due to their extreme selfishness, will shift childbearing to an artificial uterus in order to make a career, earn money, not “fall out” of business, go in for sports, this is completely different. Then the artificial womb will support and develop this egoism, and in this respect it is a very dangerous thing.
A child in the womb, her stress is likely to benefit, argues Sergei Severin, head of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Kurchatov Institute Research Center, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This is a kind of training that allows you to adapt to adverse environmental conditions. It is practically impossible to create an artificial version of such an interaction between mother and child - they are too complicated. Apparently, advancement in this area is possible not earlier than in 40-50 years.
The biophysicist, futurologist Igor Artyukhov is inclined to the same figure. However, on the way to the successful implementation of this technology, it is necessary to answer a number of questions: how society will perceive this technology; how it will relate to the child born as a result of its application; How will this child perceive himself?
There are still too many questions. There are few answers so far. Humanity thought...
The time is approaching when the human embryo will no longer develop in a woman's womb. The time of ectogenesis comes, which from the Greek language means "development from the outside." Natural pregnancy will be optional, ectogenesis is a very complex process, but there are no biological barriers to it. Marie Mundy, a Belgian director, made a film on this subject called "Artificial Womb: A Birthless Birth".
Zoltan Istvan, an American futurist, is confident that the next 30 years will bring mankind an artificial womb, with which it will be possible to conceive and grow a fetus. The idea of extrauterine development interested scientists back in 2001. Over the past years, successful experiments have been carried out with the cultivation in the "placental machine" of mouse embryos.
The goal of creating ectogenesis is to minimize the number of stillborn babies. In the incubator, the fetus will be constantly under the supervision of doctors, if the fetus begins to show abnormalities, then an injection can be given to eliminate them.
The artificial womb will be created in such a way that you can have free access to the embryo, while the embryo must have access to oxygen as well as nutrients. It is also necessary to provide a mechanism for waste disposal. We still have a long wait for experiments on the human fetus, scientists are confident that they will be supported by women who, due to physiological problems, cannot have children, as well as same-sex couples. Ectogenesis already has enemies, some people are opposed to science interfering with the natural connection between the child and the mother.
Zoltan Istvan calls on all opponents not to look back at the past, but to think about the benefits that ectogenesis can bring. He believes that all the discoveries to create an artificial womb have already been made, and experiments can be started in the near future. However, the process has ethical and legal problems in the way, the resolution of which is worth waiting for at least 20 years. The futurist allocates such a period for conducting the first experiments on growing a human fetus in an artificial womb. Zoltan Istvan thinks that in 30 years ectogenesis will become a common phenomenon, like artificial insemination.
“I'm sure rationality will prevail,” Istvan says. - It is very convenient, and humanity always strives for comfort. Opponents do not have enough arguments. The problem of abortion can be completely solved by using an artificial womb. A woman goes for an abortion, but why destroy the fetus, it can be placed in a placental machine, and it will develop. Maybe the expectant mother will come to her senses after a while, or maybe a childless family will take the child. Here is an example of several positive aspects of ectogenesis.
Challenging years of research
A normal pregnancy lasts 9 months or 280 days, but René Friedman, a French scientist in the field of in vitro fertilization, claims that after 160 days, a human embryo can develop itself outside the womb. In order for development to occur normally, scientists are working on the creation of an artificial placenta and amniotic fluid.
“After the conception of the embryo has occurred, it begins to develop in a special shell, after 6-7 days it pierces it and is fixed inside the woman’s uterus,” says Friedman. - With the same success, the embryo can develop in another womb. Of course, the presence of a womb is an indispensable condition; without a womb, it is still impossible to imagine the development of an embryo.
In the laboratory of artificial insemination, which is located in Manhattan, about 10 thousand "test-tube" children are grown annually. We can say that this is a real factory of children. Up to 28 babies are born every day. All laboratory staff are of the opinion that a woman should be able to plan her life. She can freeze her egg and then decide when she gets pregnant.
It is here that experiments are carried out that relate to the cultivation of placental animals outside the uterus. Dr. Liu was able to artificially raise a mouse in 2002, but the mouse was born crippled. The event caused a negative response from the society. Dr. Liu admitted that she overestimated the experiment in terms of ethics, she realized that such experiments could seriously affect society. She stopped her work with human embryos, continuing to experiment only on mice.
At Kitasato University, which is located in Japan, scientists are engaged in the artificial cultivation of a goat. A few weeks before birth, the fetus is removed from the mother, and two probes are connected to it, then immersed in a fluid that resembles amniotic fluid in properties. Scientists can see how a still premature goat yawns, swallows and hiccups. Half an hour after connecting, the goat embryo begins to move. Scientists are now working on the issue of the proper supply of nutrients. If the flow is too high, then the embryo will bleed, if the flow is insufficient, then the embryo will begin oxygen starvation. Artificially reared goats lived only one day at first, today their life expectancy is 20 days. For such progress it took 9 years of hard work.
A real womb is a paradise for a fetus, in a real womb it can somersault and play with the umbilical cord, this has a beneficial effect on the development of motor skills in the future. So far, it is difficult to recreate such cozy conditions in an artificial womb. Scientists fear that a child raised artificially may suffer from epilepsy, autism or dementia. Today there are about 95 million women in the world who are expecting babies. Every second 5 babies are born in the world.
It is technically possible, but is it necessary?
After domestic experts watched Marie Mandi's film, they began to express their views on the topic reflected in the film. According to Natalia Kan, head of the obstetric department of the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology named after A. V.I. Kulakov, an artificial womb, if it appears, it will not be very soon. Mother and child are two very complex systems, there is a relationship between them. It is not only the transfer of oxygen, but also the nervous and immune relationships. The embryo not only develops inside the mother, but also transmits its signals to her, informing her of her needs. In order to begin to understand such "communication", science will need at least another 50 years. It is possible to nurse embryos starting from 22 weeks (the World Health Organization considers an embryo at this age already a child), but their quality of life will not be the same as “what we would like for our children, and the outcome of nursing babies at 22-24 weeks is not always favorable” . About 70% of babies die, despite the use of the latest equipment. The cause of death is most often an immature nervous system. If the child still survives. Then he may have problems with vision, hearing, they grow up disabled.
Infants of 24-26 weeks have an 86% chance of survival, children are very small and weigh 500 grams. But you can also meet healthy children who have minimal brain dysfunctions, such children are more mobile. V. Zubkov, Head of the Department of Neonatology and Pediatrics, Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology. V.I. Kulakov that such children should be classified as absolutely healthy. He agrees that an artificial womb can be created, but you also need to remember about the norms: moral, ethical, economic. According to him, such an innovation is difficult to assess in terms of necessity.
Two-faced Janus
Olga Isupova, senior researcher at the Institute of Demography at the Higher School of Economics, says that a woman's desire to give birth has become less. The number of women without children is increasing, before they were 7%, now almost 20%. Infertility is not the reason for this, modern life adversely affects reproductive desire. From this position, there is a need for an artificial uterus. There are many women who want children but avoid pregnancy.
Galina Muravnik, a geneticist and teacher of bioethics at the St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute, believes that every discovery is a two-faced Janus, it has both positive and negative sides. She is concerned that many scientists do not look back at ethics when making their discoveries. If an artificial womb can help premature babies survive or enable a childless woman to have a baby, then these are pluses. But, if selfish women start simply using an artificial uterus so as not to fall out of the business process, then this is an obvious harm.
Sergei Severin, head of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, thinks that the stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy. Beneficial for the fetus. So the future child adapts to the environment. He also believes that the appearance of an artificial womb should be expected no earlier than in 50 years. Futurologist and biophysicist Igor Artyukhov also tends to this figure.
Before. How to implement the project, you need to think about how society will react to it? How will society treat such a child? How will the child perceive himself? There are still too many questions.
MOSCOW, November 12 - RIA Novosti. The creation of an artificial womb will become possible within about half a century and in the future may replace the bearing of a child by a real mother, according to experts who gathered at the screening of the film "Artificial Womb: Incorporeal Birth", which was held at RIA Novosti as part of the "Scientific Monday" project.
The film The Artificial uterus: Birth without bodies by French director Marie Mandy is dedicated to the technology of carrying a child outside the mother's body. According to the director, on the one hand, the development of artificial insemination technologies leads to this, and, on the other hand, the development of methods for supporting the life of premature babies at ever earlier stages of development. With his film, the director draws attention to the ethical side of the problem, fearing that the lack of contact with the mother will adversely affect the development of children.
The experts who took part in the discussion after the screening of the film, in general, agreed that such technology is likely to be created, and it will take about 50 years. However, their views on the consequences of its use for society differ.
The connection between mother and child
Natalia Kan, Head of the Obstetrics Department, Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology named after IN AND. Kulakova, emphasized that the bearing of a child cannot be reduced to providing the fetus with nutrition, hormones, oxygen and other necessary substances.
“The psychological relationship between the mother and the fetus is very complex. And here the question is not so much to raise this child to a certain period, but to ensure that the fetus that we get can then live a normal life, be socially adapted,” Kan said.
She explained that those children whom doctors nurse from 22 weeks - the earliest period at which this is now possible - due to the immaturity of the nervous system, they can grow up with disabilities, for example, suffer from vision and hearing problems. Mortality among them is more than 70%.
Further, however, the chances of premature babies increase significantly. When grown in an incubator for newborns from 25 weeks, the survival rate is 85%, while the children grow up healthy, said Viktor Zubkov, head of the department of neonatology and pediatrics of the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology named after. IN AND. Kulakov.
The artificial uterus will most likely be created using stem cells, says Sergey Severin, head of the Department of Biological Chemistry at the First Moscow State Medical University, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. This direction in the field of creating artificial organs is now actively developing, he explained. So, scientists have already learned how to grow tissues of the trachea, bladder, and heart muscle from stem cells.
A much more difficult moment, according to the expert, lies in the interaction of mother and child, who live in constant dialogue. Even the stress experienced in the womb is likely to benefit the child, the expert believes, as it prepares him for adverse environmental conditions.
“To create such a multifaceted option for maintaining this interaction between mother and fetus is unrealistic,” he said.
Plus, according to Severin, such an approach in the future leads us to eugenics, attempts to create an ideal person, and the loss of individuality.
Igor Artyukhov, head of the research group at the Institute of Biology and Aging, believes that providing conditions for the full bearing of the fetus, including preparation for stress, is a technical issue that can be solved.
Another thing is the psychological side of the problem. "How will this child be perceived by society? How will this child perceive himself? How will society in general perceive the very fact of the existence of such technology? And here, of course, there may be problems," the expert explained.
He recalled that at first many new medical technologies were rejected in society. Until now, people refuse vaccinations, blood transfusions, organ transplants.
Decline in fertility
Olga Isupova, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Demography, National Research University Higher School of Economics, presented some interesting statistics in her speech. According to her, the number of childless young women in our country is growing, now their share is 17%. However, this is not the limit, in Germany, for example, their number reaches 30%.
All over the world, there is now a drop in the birth rate, which so far does not affect only a few countries, she said. Now the average number of children per woman is only 2.5 children. While it is important for some women to be mothers, many easily and without visible harm to themselves refuse this.
"Therefore, all these works (on the creation of an artificial uterus - RIA Novosti) are of great importance.<…>Our best fertility experts, who have been studying all these processes for a long time, say that if there are no alternative methods of having children, then sooner or later everything will come to naught. There are fewer and fewer emotional and rational reasons for having children," she said.
