The EctoLife artificial womb concept promises to help babies develop full-term ‘without any biological hurdles.’ (Source: EctoLife/Hashem Al-Ghaili)

Ectolife Will Be an Ethical, Medical  Challenge to the Scientific Community

In the last five years, products and services have greatly benefited by the addition of AI to them. The mixture of human and machine intelligence is creating a paradigm shift. However, some advances give you the willies. This next story is one of them.

A page called firstpost.com has published an article that will be a breath of hope for some and a complete freak-out for others. This writer falls in the latter category. The information in the article is focused on Ectolife. Ectolife is an artificial womb for growing and nurturing a human baby. Yes, you can take the required ingredients, a sperm, and an egg, and grow them in a lovely clear plastic egg-looking device. Take a look below.

Are you intrigued or terrified? It is easy to feel both ways if it is your first introduction to artificial womb technology.

The concept is the brainchild of Berlin-based Hashem Al-Ghaili, a producer, filmmaker and science communicator, and “molecular biologist by trade”, as per his website.

The concept of EctoLife is based on over 50 years of “groundbreaking scientific research” by researchers globally, says Al-Ghaili.

It will be able to develop 30,000 babies a year in a lab in transparent “growth pods.”

And in case you aren’t satisfied with the baby you grew in the “growth pod,” you can customize the baby you want. You can choose the gender, size, eye color, etc.

“Thanks to CRISPR-Cas 9 gene editing tool, you can edit any trait of your baby through a wide range of over 300 genes”, a statement said.

The “Elite Package”will also let parents “fix any inherited genetic diseases”.

Parents can keep a track of their baby’s growth and development through a screen on the pods that showcase real-time data, as per Metro. During the time of delivery, the baby can be removed from the pod with the “push of a button”.

It is an interesting idea and is likely already part of our collective futures.  For couples or individuals that cannot have a child the old-fashioned way, the Ectolife pod could be the answer to their prayers. And of course, much of this process will be controlled by AI.  The blending of man and machine continues in 2023.

read more at firstpost.com