Artificial uterus for premature babies. Medicine and Science. Artificial uterus Technically possible, but not soon. And is it necessary

16.10.2019

Undoubtedly, an artificial womb (or an artificial womb) is a topic that provoked a violent reaction from the public. Scandals related to in vitro fertilization have not yet died down. It was it that showed the world that the process of conception can proceed calmly and without active participation, causing ambiguous statements.

The birth of "test-tube babies" gave someone the lost hope of having a child, while others were plunged into real horror. Radical opponents of artificial insemination predicted the devaluation of the role of men in society, the complete victory of feminism. But that was not the case, ladies and gentlemen feminists!

The artificial uterus also neutralizes the role, proving that a child can develop successfully without the participation of the mother.

The first scientist to achieve a real result in the creation of an artificial uterus was the Japanese Yoshinori Kuwabara. A professor at the University of Tokyo managed to recreate the process of intrauterine development of a kid outside the mother's body, which became a real sensation in medicine. The scientist has developed a special container in which he planted a fertilized goat's egg.

Thus, it was possible to organize optimal environmental conditions and the nutritional system of the developing fetus, as similar as possible to natural ones. But before the mad scientist came to success, there were other equally significant events.

Historical reference

Attempts to create an artificial womb were made by scientists back in the middle of the last century. Initially, the goal was to nurture premature babies born too early. This should have made them more viable. This was done in the so-called jugs.

Therefore, the jugs can be called the first artificial womb created by man. These are plastic sealed containers in which the optimum temperature, oxygen level and air humidity are maintained. The baby is fed with a probe.

However, the unit helps to save the life of a child born no earlier than 22 weeks. Until that time, attempts to save life are almost one hundred percent doomed to failure. Indeed, at these periods, the fetus has not yet formed a respiratory system ready for gas exchange.

In addition to oxygen, nutrients enter the human embryo's body with the flow of maternal blood. Doctors were able to establish and reproduce in laboratory conditions their exact chemical composition, after which the survival threshold was pushed back to 20 weeks.

That is, today there is a real opportunity to survive for a 500-gram immature fetus, which "jumped out" too quickly from the mother's womb.

In the late 70s, medicine officially announced the conduct of in vitro fertilization - conception became possible outside the human body. In order to completely transfer the process of forming a child from the first moments of existence to full-fledged development, it remained to combine both achievements of medicine, which turned out to be not so easy.

The main snag was the creation of an artificial placenta. However, there is no material in nature capable of performing the functions of this amazing organ. As a result of numerous studies, it was possible to identify special ones. It was they who gave scientists hope for the embodiment of this most difficult task.

Many futurists and geneticists have already expressed what else an artificial womb can be used for. One crazy idea, in their opinion, should serve to implement an even crazier and, at first glance, incredible. So, an artificial uterus is another technology that in the future may be useful for the resurrection of mammoths from their DNA. After all, raising a mammoth in a mammoth will not work due to the fact that the first died out. And the African or Indian elephant is far from 100% likely to endure a racially full-fledged and healthy mammoth. This is where the invention in question will come to the rescue.

Perspectives

An artificially grown man is a truly fantastic idea, gradually approaching reality. The goal of raising people outside the female body is set not only by the Japanese, but also by leading experts in America and Europe. However, these studies are not considered humane and for a number of ethical reasons they did not gain widespread recognition. Alas and ah ...

And these experiments can bring a lot of useful things to humanity. These are the prospects that the "Artificial Uterus" project opens up to humanity:

The new technology will allow women who are unable to bear their own child due to defects in the development of the reproductive organs to find the happiness of motherhood.
The process of extrauterine rearing of the fetus will allow you to control the development process at all stages. This will make it possible to prevent many congenital pathologies. Statistics show that today the frequency of genetic abnormalities in newborns is 5%. The new technology will significantly reduce this figure.
Modern surgery has taken a huge step - today, operations are carried out in the embryo with intrauterine detection of internal organ defects. An artificial uterus will make it easier for fetal surgeons to minimize the likelihood of postoperative complications.
An artificial cervix gives women suffering from severe somatic diseases, in which pregnancy is categorically contraindicated, to find the happiness of motherhood.

And this, if not all of them can be fantasized. What would you add here? ..

conclusions

The modern reality is that while officially experiments on creating an artificial womb are not allowed by law. A human embryo can be grown under artificial conditions up to a maximum of the 12th week - this is the period until which is allowed by law.

But scientists are not stopping the search for a loophole, and, perhaps, in the near future, they will be able to give hope to those who cannot have their own children.

Dear blog readers, do you think it is worth creating an artificial uterus, leave comments or reviews. Someone will find it very useful!

The development of mammals (including humans) in the womb is a long and complex process. Of course, it is familiar to us, and everyone knows what happens while the fetus is in the womb. For a long time, scientists have set themselves the goal of growing a fruit in artificial conditions. But this issue began to be actively investigated about two decades ago.

First experiments

A successful experiment to develop an artificial uterus was carried out by scientists in Philadelphia. Their method has already been tested and works quite well. In the laboratory of Philadelphia scientists there was not one fruit, but as many as eight - these are lambs, which continue to develop in artificial conditions. Their internal organs are constantly increasing in size. Lambs sometimes open their eyes, move, make swallowing movements - all that the fetus should do at a certain stage of its development. Scientists believe that in the future, an artificial uterus will become a ubiquitous way to safely carry premature babies.

The minimum period of intrauterine development, after which the fetus can be considered viable, is 20-22 weeks. In this case, the body weight should be about 400 g. Such babies are placed in an incubator, where the required level of temperature and humidity is maintained. Also in the jail, artificial respiration devices and expensive medicines are used. However, even the most modern techniques cannot support an environment that could be comparable to that of the mother's womb.

The dream of scientists

The real uterus is a three-layer "bag" of muscle tissue. Bearing a fetus would be impossible without the coordinated work of its three layers - endometrium, myometrium and perimetry. Scientists have already studied the development process well enough: a fertilized egg is introduced into the inner layer of the uterus, the placenta is gradually formed, and fluid accumulates around the fetus. However, until now it has been impossible for researchers to reproduce all these conditions. The idea of artificial gestation, like the idea of a homunculus (a person created by the hands of other people), has been stirring up the minds of scientists for a long time. Advances such as the creation of an artificial womb pose many moral and ethical questions for humanity. However, progress cannot be stopped, and society will soon face these issues.

How does the device work?

Seen from the outside, it is most similar to vacuum packaging. In fact, it is nothing more and nothing less than a bio bag. Scientists called their development biobag, which in English means "biobag". On the other hand, an artificial uterus is a system that has the same elements as a real uterus. The solution inside it removes the accumulated harmful substances from the fetus. In fact, this solution is analogous to amniotic fluid or amniotic fluid. All nutrients, including oxygen, are received by the embryo through an artificial "umbilical cord". At the same time, gas exchange takes place here.

Scientists explain: the main problem due to which premature babies die is underdevelopment of the lungs. In the womb, the baby's lungs are filled with fluid. "Biobag" simulates this state. And also, unlike other methods, it protects the fetus from the pathogenic environment. The artificial uterus works without a pump.

Importance of the problem

An artificial uterus for premature babies could solve the global problem of premature birth. According to WHO statistics, about 15 million children die every year due to prematurity - and this is one in ten of all newborns. About a million of them die immediately, and those children who survived may suffer from various physiological or mental problems.

Experiment

The age of the lamb embryo, which was transplanted into an artificial womb by scientists, was equivalent to the 23-week gestation period of a human embryo. Before the experiment was carried out by Philadelphia scientists, scientists from different countries of the world tried to conduct the experiment. However, the fetus died within a few hours. The problem was that the embryo needed a "bridge" between the womb and the artificial uterus.

Initially, the device was tested on lambs, which were about 120 days old. After the embryos spent four weeks in the "bio-bag", they were subjected to a thorough examination. The researchers found no problems. It could be argued that sheep are at a much lower stage of development than humans. However, now a start has already been made, and a similar device for babies will soon be invented. Scientists say that by the time an artificial uterus is developed for humans, it will take only 1.5 minutes to "switch" the fetus from the mother's body to the artificial device. If all further experiments are successful, then in a few years the first human trials will begin. This development will help save more than one human life.

Animals that were in the device for four weeks had to be euthanized for further study and evaluation of the success of the experiment. However, one lamb, to which the researcher developed an affection, survived, he was sent to the farm.

The future of scientific development

The fact that scientists have already created an artificial uterus for carrying embryos indicates significant progress in this area. These experiments are of immense importance to humanity. However, despite the fact that previous experiments were carried out quite successfully, this is not yet a 100% guarantee that such a device will be created for carrying human embryos.

If further experiments go well, premature babies after a caesarean section will also be transferred to the device. For four weeks, babies will spend time in conditions that are as close to natural as possible. Scientists also emphasize: this technology will be successful only for those children who were born after the 24th week of intrauterine development.

The time is approaching when the human embryo will no longer develop in a woman's uterus. The time is coming for ectogenesis, which from the Greek language means "development outside." Natural pregnancy will be optional, ectogenesis is a very complex process, but there are no biological barriers for it. Marie Mundy, a Belgian filmmaker, directed the film Artificial Womb: A Bodily Birth on the subject.

Zoltan Istvan, an American futurist, is confident that the next 30 years will bring an artificial womb to humanity, with which it will be possible to conceive and grow a fetus. Scientists were interested in the idea of extrauterine development back in 2001. Over the years, there have been successful experiments with growing mouse embryos in the "placental machine".

The goal of 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 administered to eliminate them.

The artificial womb will be created in such a way that it is possible to have free access to the embryo, while the embryo must have access to oxygen and nutrients. It is also necessary to provide a mechanism for waste disposal. We have a long time to 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 has already had enemies, some people are against science interfering with the natural relationship between the child and the mother.

Zoltan Istvan urges 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 begin in the near future. However, the process has ethical and legal problems in the way, the resolution of which should wait at least 20 years. The futurist sets aside such a period for 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 am confident that rationality will prevail,” says Istvan. - It is very convenient, and humanity always strives for comfort. The opponents don't have enough arguments. The abortion problem can be completely solved using an artificial womb. A woman goes for an abortion, but why destroy the fetus, it can be placed in the placental machine, and it will develop. Maybe the expectant mother will change her mind after a while, or maybe the childless family will take the child. Here's an example of several positive aspects of ectogenesis.

Difficult years of research

A typical pregnancy lasts 9 months or 280 days, but Rene Friedman, a French scientist in the field of in vitro fertilization, claims that after 160 days, a human embryo can develop on its own outside the womb. In order for development to occur normally, scientists are working to create an artificial placenta and amniotic fluid.

“After the embryo is conceived, it begins to develop in a special membrane, 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 a prerequisite, without a womb it is impossible to imagine the development of an embryo. "

In the artificial insemination laboratory, which is located in Manhattan, about 10 thousand "test tube" babies are raised annually. We can say that this is a real children's factory. Up to 28 children 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 to become 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 public. Dr. Liu admitted that she overestimated the experiment from an ethical point of view, she realized that such experiments could seriously affect society. She stopped her work with human embryos, continuing to experiment only with mice.

At Kitasato University, which is located in Japan, scientists are engaged in the artificial cultivation of the goat. A few weeks before birth, the fetus is removed from the mother, and two probes are connected to it, then immersed in a liquid that resembles amniotic fluid in properties. Scientists can see how a still premature goat yawns, swallows and hiccups. Half an hour after the connection, the goat embryo begins to move. Scientists are now dealing with the issue of the correct supply of nutrients. If the flow is too large, then the embryo will hemorrhage, but if the flow is insufficient, then the embryo will begin to lack oxygen. Children raised artificially, at first lived only one day, today their life expectancy is 20 days. It took 9 years of hard work to make this progress.

The real womb is a paradise for the 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. While such comfortable conditions in an artificial womb are difficult to recreate. 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 children are born in the world.

Perhaps technically, but is it necessary?

After the domestic experts watched the film by Marie Mundy, 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 VI Kulakova, an artificial womb, if it appears, it will be very soon. Mother and child are two very complex systems, there is a dependence 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, communicating its needs. In order to begin to understand such "communication", science will take at least another 50 years. Nursing embryos starting from 22 weeks is possible (the World Health Organization considers an embryo at this age already a child), but their quality of life will not be "what we would like our children, and the outcome of nursing babies 22-24 weeks is not always favorable" ... About 70% of babies die, despite the use of the latest equipment. The most common cause of death is an immature nervous system. If the child still survives. He may have problems with vision, hearing, they grow up disabled.

In infants 24-26 weeks, the chance of survival is 86%, 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 named after V.I. VI Kulakov that such children should be classified as absolutely healthy. He agrees that an artificial uterus can be created, but you need to remember about the norms: moral, ethical, economic. According to him, such an innovation is difficult to assess from the point of view 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 decreased. The number of women without children is growing, before there were 7%, now it is almost 20%. Infertility is not the reason, modern life adversely affects reproductive desire. From this position, there is a need for an artificial uterus. There are many women wanting children but avoiding pregnancy.

Galina Muravnik, a geneticist and teacher of bioethics at St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute, believes that every discovery is a two-faced Janus, it has both positive and negative sides. She worries that many scientists do not look back at ethics when making their discoveries. If an artificial womb can help premature babies survive or provide an opportunity for a childless woman to have a child, then these are advantages. But, if selfish women begin to simply use an artificial uterus so as not to drop out of the business process, then this is obvious harm.

Head of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Research Center "Kurchatov Institute" and Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences Sergei Severin thinks that the stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy. Good for the fetus. This is how the unborn child adapts to the environment. He also believes that the appearance of an artificial womb should be expected no earlier than 50 years. Futurologist and biophysicist Igor Artyukhov is also leaning towards such a figure.

Before. How to implement the project, we need to think about it, but how will society react to it? How will society treat such a child? How will the child perceive himself? There are still too many questions.

Director:& nbspMari Mendy

Country:& nbspFrance

Year:& nbsp2009

Duration:& nbsp53 min

Artificial placenta, synthetic amniotic fluid ... These medical advances to help premature babies may soon lead to the creation of an artificial uterus, and with it the ability to raise babies separately from the woman's body. This film is a scientific study of such life-making machines. How it works? Why do we strive to make pregnancy “out of the body”? Who will benefit from this? And what are the consequences that the unborn child will have to face? In this award-winning original and thought-provoking film, director Marie Mendy explores issues such as the value of life and the power of science.

What will raising babies outside a woman's body lead to: expert opinion.

Soon, human embryos will be able to develop not in a female uterus, but in an artificial one - this process is called ectogenesis (from the Greek words "ecto" - outside, outside and "genesis" - origin, origin, birth). Then natural pregnancy becomes unnecessary. It is incredibly difficult, but, nevertheless, there are no biological barriers to this. Such claims are made in the film "Artificial Womb: The Bodily Birth" by the Belgian director Marie Mundy (now living in France).

Science and Life // Illustrations

Natalia Kan.

Victor Zubkov.

Olga Isupova.

Galina Muravnik.

Sergey Severin.

Presenter 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 on their own, outside the mother's body. To help them in this, today work is underway to create an artificial placenta and synthetic amniotic fluid.

“After conception, the embryo begins to grow in a special membrane, but after 6-7 days it pierces it and attaches itself to the woman's uterus,” says Rene Friedman. “However, he could just as well have developed in another womb. True, the presence of a womb - natural or artificial - is a must: without it there will be no development, the organs of a little man will not be able to form. "
A laboratory in Manhattan grows 10,000 test-tube babies a year. This is a whole factory of people. 27-28 children are born a 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 for herself when to carry and give birth to a child.

Experiments on raising living beings outside the mother's womb are also being conducted here. For example, scientists create an artificial uterus, put a mouse embryo in there and watch how it develops. In 2002, Dr. Liu had 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, she said, overestimated 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 the Kitasato University of Japan. A few weeks before giving birth, he is removed from his mother, two probes are inserted into his body, and he is immersed in a special liquid. You can observe how the 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 magnitude of the flow of nutrients entering the body of the experimental creature. If the flow is large, hemorrhage occurs. If it is small, oxygen deficiency occurs. In the beginning, these kids lived only one day. Now it's 20 days. It took Dr. Unno and Kurobare 9 years of intense research to make this progress.

Play and tumble in paradise

Of course, a mother's womb is a baby's paradise. 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 affect the development of the fetus. Is it possible to recreate them in an artificial womb - so far 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 provide interesting statistics. Today, there are 95 million pregnant women in the world. 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. Is it really necessary?

As a result of viewing the documentary picture, 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 Natalya 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 a very complex immunological relationship, neural interactions. The fetus does not just grow inside the mother, he gives her his signals, telling her what he needs and how this need can be adjusted. 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, it is no longer a fetus, but a child). But, as N. Kahn 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 technology are used. The reason for this sad picture is the immaturity of the nervous system. Even if such children survive, they, as a rule, are visually impaired, hearing impaired, etc.
Babies aged 24-26 weeks have a much greater chance of survival: according to Viktor Zubkov, head of the department of neonatology and pediatrics at the Scientific Center for Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology named after V.I. VI Kulakov, up to 86% of them remain alive. At the same time, the kids are very tiny - only 500 grams each. Among them there are also almost completely healthy ones, 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: the woman's reproductive desires have probably decreased. In any case, the number of childless women is growing (if earlier there were 7% of them in our country, now it is 17-20%), and this is not even connected with infertility, but with a complex of reasons: modern life is not very conducive to to be distracted by the birth and upbringing of a 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, O. Isupova sums up.

Any scientific discovery is a two-faced Janus, a double-edged sword, which has both a positive and a negative side, believes Galina Muravnik, a geneticist, lecturer in bioethics at the St. Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute. It is alarming that many scientists, while developing their revolutionary technologies, do not reflect on their ethical side. If an artificial uterus will help deeply premature babies or, for example, women for whom pregnancy is contraindicated for health reasons, it is a blessing. But if this degenerates into the fact that some women, due to their extreme selfishness, will shift childbirth to an artificial uterus in order to make a career, earn money, not "drop out" of business, go in for sports - that is completely different. Then the artificial womb will maintain and develop this egoism, and in this regard it is a very dangerous thing.
A child in the womb is likely to benefit from her stress, says Sergei Severin, head of the molecular biology department at the Kurchatov Institute Research Center, and a 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 interaction between mother and child - they are too complicated. Apparently, progress in this area is possible no earlier than in 40-50 years.

The biophysicist and futurologist Igor Artyukhov is leaning towards the same figure. However, on the way to the successful implementation of this technology, it is necessary to answer a number of questions: how the 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 has thought ...