Ectogenesis

Ectogenesis is the creation of mammalian life outside the uterus. Ectogenesis nominally refers to the complete artificial creation of life, as described in Aldous Huxley's 1932 novel Brave New World. However, the term has been applied to all technological developments that would result in a shortening of the time required for the fetus to attain viability following implantation in the womb. Ectogenesis involves the application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to previable infants whose lungs are incapable of gas exchange. ECMO is a technique used in selected neonatal intensive care units to treat term infants with selected medical problems that result in the infant's inability to survive through gas exchange using the lungs. It is not currently used on preterm infants. Such experimentation on human preterm infants has not been reported. However, experiments on fetal goats have occurred and have resulted in maintenance of life for several weeks outside the uterus in previable goat fetuses. Issues related to nutrition and hormonal stability remain to be addressed.The application of ECMO to preterm human fetuses has the potential to avoid complications of conventional neonatal intensive care, such as lung damage and stroke. It also has the potential to move the threshold of fetal viability to a much earlier stage of pregnancy. This would have implications for the ongoing controversy regarding human reproductive rights. (From the Wikpedia article Ectogenesis.)

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Recent Publications on Ectogenesis:
The UNESCO Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights: protecting future generations and the quest for a global consensus. Since the coining of the term 'ectogenesis' by Haldane in 1924, we have...	10th April, 2009	School of Law, Liverpool. John Moores University, Liverpool, United	Med Law. 2008 Dec;27(4):805-23.
The artificial womb: a pilot study considering people's views on the artificial womb and ectogenesis in Israel. Since the coining of the term ''ectogenesis'' by Haldane in 1924, we have...	23rd January, 2009	Department of Health Systems Management, Yezreel Valley College, Emek	Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2009 Winter;18(1):87-94. DOI Direct Link
The moral imperative for ectogenesis. Since the coining of the term ''''ectogenesis'''' by Haldane in 1924, we have...	20th September, 2007	Imperial College, London.	Camb Q Healthc Ethics. 2007 Summer;16(3):336-45.
Artificial reproduction technologies (RTs) - all the way to the artificial womb? In this paper, I argue that the development of an artificial womb is...	25th April, 2007	Center for Women's Health, Ben Gurion University, Beer-Sheva, Israel.	Med Health Care Philos. 2006;9(3):359-65. DOI Direct Link
Would artificial wombs produce more harm than good? OBJECTIVE: To observe the protective role of the ectogenesis zinc in the...	17th May, 2006		Natl Cathol Bioeth Q. 2005 Winter;5(4):657; author reply 658.
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BioPortfolio Ltd. offers e-mail and postal lists for Ectogenesis scientists - we have details of around 18 individuals working on Ectogenesis .