\nforbidden areas of dangerous scientific pursuit<\/strong>
\nand technological development, the destiny of the<\/strong>
\nhuman race will be abruptly and forever altered.\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n
— Cosmic Convergence Research Group<\/em><\/p>\n Hashem Al-Ghaili<\/p><\/div>\n BY MARCIA WENDORF In late 2021,\u00a0Elon Musk tweeted<\/a>\u00a0his fears about the end of humanity. \u201cWe should be much more worried about population collapse\u2026.If there aren\u2019t enough people for Earth, then there definitely won\u2019t be enough for Mars,\u201d he opined. Musk\u2019s statements brought the world\u2019s falling birthrate to the forefront of social consciousness.<\/p>\n For nearly a century, fertility rates have been decreasing globally. The result is what scientists are describing as a \u201cworldwide infertility crisis<\/a>.\u201d But there\u2019s a solution looming on the horizon \u2014 artificial wombs.<\/p>\n In 2017, scientists created a \u201cBioBag\u201d that functioned as an artificial womb, and they used it\u00a0to grow a baby lamb<\/a>. Now, a new concept has been unveiled showing how the same could be done for humans. In recently released footage, Hashem Al-Ghaili shows what childbirth might look like tomorrow. Specifically, he created an artificial womb facility named\u00a0EctoLife<\/a>.<\/p>\n Its purpose? In an exclusive interview with\u00a0Science and Stuff<\/em>, Al-Ghaili says he thinks the EctoLife concept could one day supplant traditional birth. In so doing, he said society would finally be able to meet the needs of parents who are \u201ctired of waiting for a response from an adoption agency\u201d and those who are \u201cworried about pregnancy complications.\u201d But most importantly, he says EctoLife could allow us to confront the infertility crisis head-on.<\/p>\n Currently, the World Health Organization\u00a0estimates that 15%<\/a>\u00a0of reproductive-aged couples worldwide are affected by infertility. Indeed, over the last 70 years, fertility rates worldwide\u00a0have decreased by a staggering 50%<\/a>. Reasons for this decline include (among other things) women\u2019s increased education, increases in employment, the high cost of raising children, and a drop in global sperm count. 23 countries are already at risk, with Japan, Spain, Portugal, Thailand, and South Korea at the forefront of the crisis.<\/p>\n In the U.S.,\u00a0infertility statistics<\/a>\u00a0are likewise sobering:<\/p>\n Replying to Musk\u2019s tweet, the tech investor\u00a0Sahil Lavingia wrote<\/a>, \u201cWe should be investing in technology that makes having kids much faster\/easier\/cheaper\/more accessible. Synthetic wombs, etc.\u201d And that is exactly what Al-Ghaili was thinking when he came up with the design for EctoLife. Al-Ghaili told\u00a0Science and Stuff<\/em>\u00a0that he was inspired to create the concept of EctoLife in order to further \u201cthe discussion around a technology that shouldn\u2019t be ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Al-Ghaili, the artificial womb concept of EctoLife would be life-changing for many who struggle to conceive. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect solution for women who [have] had their uterus surgically removed due to cancer or other complications. It could also help solve issues that stem from low sperm count,\u201d Al-Ghaili said enthusiastically, adding that the EctoLife concept (or technologies like it) \u201ccould ultimately make miscarriage a thing of the past.\u201d<\/p>\n Synthetic wombs might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but they follow in a long line of advancements in reproductive technology. On July 25, 1978, a\u00a0baby girl named Louise Brown<\/a>\u00a0was born at Oldham and District General Hospital in Manchester, England. What made her birth memorable was that Louise was conceived in a petri dish, and she is the first baby conceived through\u00a0in vitro fertilization<\/em>\u00a0(IVF).<\/p>\n Louise\u2019s mother had a mature egg removed from one of her ovaries, and it was combined with Louise\u2019s father\u2019s sperm. The resulting embryo was then transferred to Mrs. Brown\u2019s uterus. Nine months later, Louise was born. The Browns went on to conceive a second daughter, Natalie, also through IVF. In May 1999, Natalie made history when she became the first IVF baby to give birth to a child of her own. In December 2006, Louise followed suit, delivering a healthy baby boy.<\/p>\n Today, more than 8 million children are conceived through IVF annually.<\/p>\n The 2017 BioBag was an enormous breakthrough in artificial womb technology. The scientists behind the work grew eight fetal lambs for 105 to 120 days \u2014 about equivalent to human fetuses at 22 to 24 weeks of gestation. Then in March 2021, another milestone was achieved. Israeli scientists were\u00a0able to grow mouse embryos<\/a>\u00a0for up to eleven days inside artificial wombs. What is remarkable about that achievement is that 11 days is over half of the full mouse gestational term.<\/p>\n Al-Ghaili says the EctoLife concept is just the logical next step. And he\u2019s not the only one who thinks so.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems probable that we are only several years away from testing [aritfical wombs] on human subjects,\u201d Social Ethics and Policy Academic Elizabeth Chloe Romanis\u00a0wrote in the BMJ\u2019s\u00a0Journal Of Medical Ethics<\/em><\/a>. Meanwhile, Dr. Carlo Bulletti, Associate Professor at Yale University\u2019s Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science Department, thinks that a fully functioning artificial womb could be\u00a0realized within the next 10 years<\/a>.<\/p>\n The EctoLife video shows that the first step prospective parents must take is having their eggs and sperm combined via in vitro fertilization. This would allow them to select only viable and \u201cgenetically superior embryos.\u201d Al-Ghaili clarifies that genetically superior embryos are primarily those which are free from genetic issues that would result in miscarriage. However, he notes that the process could also be used to \u201cscreen for birth defects,\u201d as is\u00a0already common practice in most IVF treatments<\/a>.<\/p>\n But that\u2019s not all.<\/p>\n This would also offer parents the ability to \u201cgenetically engineer the[ir] embryo before implanting it into the artificial womb\u201d through the use of the CRISPR-Cas 9 gene editing tool. This would create the opportunity to \u201cfix any inherited genetic diseases that are part of your family history so that your baby and their offspring will live a healthy, comfortable life free of genetic diseases.\u201d This may seem far-fetched; however, Al-Ghaili pointed out that CRISPR has\u00a0already been used<\/a>\u00a0\u201cto correct a genetic mutation in human embryos that is linked to a condition known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which causes the heart muscle to thicken.\u201d<\/p>\n According to Al-Ghaili, the EctoLife facility is also envisioned as making extensive use of artificial intelligence (AI), with one of its uses being to provide each baby with \u201ccustom nutrients tailored to their needs.\u201d Another use of AI in the EctoLife concept would be to monitor \u201cthe physical features of your baby and report any potential abnormalities for deviations from normal gestation.\u201d<\/p>\n EctoLife could also enable parents to experience what their baby sees and hears through the use of 360\u00b0 cameras that are inside the artificial womb and are paired with a virtual reality headset. These cameras would also offer parents a constant video feed of their baby\u2019s development, allowing parents to monitor their child\u2019s progress on their smartphones.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, speakers could be used to play a wide range of words and music to the baby, mimicking the sounds that babies hear while in their mothers\u2019 wombs. \u201cParents could even choose the playlist\u201d or play their own voices, so their child gets more used to them,\u201d Al-Ghaili said.<\/p>\n Once a baby reaches full maturity? According to the video, the birth process can be \u201cdone with just the push of a button,\u201d which will cause the faux amniotic fluid to drain from the growth pod. The impact on humanity could be profound.<\/p>\n Each year,\u00a0around 300,000 women die<\/a>\u00a0from pregnancy or complications shortly afterward. But that\u2019s not all. \u201cWe know that the constraints of the human uterus and pelvis have acted as a brake on the size of the human brain and skull. If freed from the need to be \u2018born\u2019 in the normal way, we might open the way for a new evolutionary trajectory,\u201d Dr. Anna Smajdor, Associate Professor of Practical Philosophy at the University of Oslo,\u00a0noted in a previous interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n Despite these potential benefits, the technologies that are presented in EctoLife will assuredly give some pause. But just how widespread are these moral misgivings?<\/p>\n The assistive reproduction technology, or ART, market is already large, and it is only getting larger. According to the American Society of Reproductive Medicine, the current cost of\u00a0a single IVF cycle<\/a>\u00a0is $12,400, with the average couple spending $19,234. The largest market for IVF treatment is currently Europe, followed by the U.S. However, the fastest-growing market is the Asia-Pacific region. The market for IVF services is expected to grow\u00a0to over $35 billion<\/a>\u00a0by 2030, while the market for IVF devices\u00a0is expected to reach $10 billion<\/a>\u00a0by 2030.<\/p>\n Venture capital is taking notice of this growing trend, with the ART sector\u00a0expected to reach $54.7 billion<\/a>\u00a0by 2028. In 2021,\u00a0fertility startups received $627 million<\/a>. However, by mid-July 2022, fertility startups had already received over $500 million, marking the ART sector as one that may be impervious to any pending recession.<\/p>\n
\nEctoLife: Concept Unveiled for the World\u2019s First Artificial Womb Facility<\/h1>\n
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\nScience and Stuff<\/p>\nOur need for a new form of birth<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>Science fiction becomes reality<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>EctoLife: Reinventing evolution<\/h2>\n
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<\/a>A Growing Market<\/h2>\n
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