One book I read that has human embryos grown in a lab is Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Human embryos and fetuses were grown in glass containers and genetically modified to fit into a certain rank of society, which was dystopian. Recently, a team of scientists at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel, led by Jacob Hanna, mixed stem cells together to produce a structure that replicates an early human embryo in many ways. A fertilized human egg developed into a hollow ball of 200 cells and then planted itself on the wall of the uterus in its first week of growth. In the next three weeks, it divided into the distinct bone tissues of the human body.
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a developmental biologist at the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology said, “We do it to save lives, not create them.” For ages, the only human embryos that developmental biologists could study were specimens collected from miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions. Consequently, scientists had a lot of questions about the beginnings of human development. According to marchofdimes.org, miscarriage is very common that more than 30 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and many end before a woman even knows they’re pregnant. Researchers have no idea why a majority of 60 percent of human embryos do not survive. If the scientists at the institute can make precise, reputable replicas of human embryos, they will be able to run larger experiments to test possible causes of pregnancy failures. For example, viruses and genetic mutations. A member of the Harvard Medical School for Bioethics who was not involved in the recent studies, Insoo Hyun, noted that the models could lead to other medical advances too. He also said, “Once you get the embryo models in place and you can rely on them, that can be an interesting way to screen drugs that women take when they’re pregnant. That would be an enormous benefit.”
Unlike the Brave New World, the Weizmann Institute of Science creates embryos for a good purpose, to save lives. For now, this has a huge benefit on women’s pregnancy health, but this needs more people with a great work ethic to make these operations work very successfully with no flaws. If this goes too far, and people abuse this, then the situation could end up like Brave New World, and could all come falling down.
In conclusion, embryo models have the possibility to allow doctors to turn back the progression of time in pregnancy. But this technology needs regulation control to make sure it is used to benefit human health.
Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz, a developmental biologist at the University of Cambridge and the California Institute of Technology said, “We do it to save lives, not create them.” For ages, the only human embryos that developmental biologists could study were specimens collected from miscarriages, stillbirths, and abortions. Consequently, scientists had a lot of questions about the beginnings of human development. According to marchofdimes.org, miscarriage is very common that more than 30 percent of pregnancies end in miscarriage, and many end before a woman even knows they’re pregnant. Researchers have no idea why a majority of 60 percent of human embryos do not survive. If the scientists at the institute can make precise, reputable replicas of human embryos, they will be able to run larger experiments to test possible causes of pregnancy failures. For example, viruses and genetic mutations. A member of the Harvard Medical School for Bioethics who was not involved in the recent studies, Insoo Hyun, noted that the models could lead to other medical advances too. He also said, “Once you get the embryo models in place and you can rely on them, that can be an interesting way to screen drugs that women take when they’re pregnant. That would be an enormous benefit.”
Unlike the Brave New World, the Weizmann Institute of Science creates embryos for a good purpose, to save lives. For now, this has a huge benefit on women’s pregnancy health, but this needs more people with a great work ethic to make these operations work very successfully with no flaws. If this goes too far, and people abuse this, then the situation could end up like Brave New World, and could all come falling down.
In conclusion, embryo models have the possibility to allow doctors to turn back the progression of time in pregnancy. But this technology needs regulation control to make sure it is used to benefit human health.
