Ectogenesis (from the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
ecto, "outer," and
genesis) is the creation of mammalian life outside the
uterusThe uterus is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals, including humans. It is within the uterus that the fetus develops during gestation. The term uterus is used consistently within the medical and related professions; the Germanic term, womb is more common in...
. Ectogenesis nominally refers to the complete artificial creation of life, as described in
Aldous HuxleyAldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He spent the later part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death in 1963...
's 1932 novel
Brave New WorldBrave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in the London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis...
. However, the term has been applied to all technological developments that would result in a shortening of the time required for the
fetusA fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth. The plural is fetuses....
to attain viability following implantation in the womb.
Ectogenesis involves the application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to previable infants whose lungs are incapable of
gas exchangeGas exchange or respiration takes place at a respiratory surface—a boundary between the external environment and the interior of the body. For unicellular organisms the respiratory surface is governed by Fick's law, which determines that respiratory surfaces must have:*a large surface area*a thin...
.
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Ectogenesis (from the
GreekGreek , an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, is the language of the Greeks. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. In its ancient form, it is the language of classical...
ecto, "outer," and
genesis) is the creation of mammalian life outside the
uterusThe uterus is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals, including humans. It is within the uterus that the fetus develops during gestation. The term uterus is used consistently within the medical and related professions; the Germanic term, womb is more common in...
. Ectogenesis nominally refers to the complete artificial creation of life, as described in
Aldous HuxleyAldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He spent the later part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death in 1963...
's 1932 novel
Brave New WorldBrave New World is a novel by Aldous Huxley, written in 1931 and published in 1932. Set in the London of AD 2540 , the novel anticipates developments in reproductive technology and sleep-learning that combine to change society. The future society is an embodiment of the ideals that form the basis...
. However, the term has been applied to all technological developments that would result in a shortening of the time required for the
fetusA fetus is a developing mammal or other viviparous vertebrate after the embryonic stage and before birth. The plural is fetuses....
to attain viability following implantation in the womb.
Ectogenesis involves the application of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to previable infants whose lungs are incapable of
gas exchangeGas exchange or respiration takes place at a respiratory surface—a boundary between the external environment and the interior of the body. For unicellular organisms the respiratory surface is governed by Fick's law, which determines that respiratory surfaces must have:*a large surface area*a thin...
. 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
goatThe domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep: both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
s have occurred and have resulted in maintenance of life for several weeks outside the uterus in previable goat fetuses. Issues related to
nutritionNutrition is the provision, to cells and organisms, of the materials necessary to support life. Many common health problems can be prevented or alleviated with a healthy diet....
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
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
. 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 rightsReproductive rights are a series of legal rights and freedoms relating to reproduction and reproductive health. The World Health Organisation defines reproductive rights as follows:...
.
See also
- Artificial uterus
In the field of ectogenesis, an artificial uterus is a mechanism that is used to grow an embryo outside of the body of a female organism that would normally internally carry the embryo to term....
- Ectopic pregnancy
An ectopic pregnancy is a complication of pregnancy in which the fertilized ovum is developed in any tissue other than the uterine wall. Most ectopic pregnancies occur in the Fallopian tube , but implantation can also occur in the cervix, ovaries, and abdomen...
- Endometrium
-Function:The endometrium functions as a lining for the uterus, preventing adhesions between the opposed walls of the myometrium, thereby maintaining the patency of the uterine cavity. During the menstrual cycle or estrous cycle, the endometrium grows to a thick, blood vessel-rich, glandular tissue...
- IVF
- Placenta
The placenta is an organ unique to mammals that connects the developing fetus to the uterine wall. The placenta supplies the fetus with oxygen and food, and allows fetal waste to be disposed of via the maternal kidneys...
- Uterus
The uterus is a major female hormone-responsive reproductive sex organ of most mammals, including humans. It is within the uterus that the fetus develops during gestation. The term uterus is used consistently within the medical and related professions; the Germanic term, womb is more common in...
- Amniotic fluid
Amniotic fluid or liquor amnii is the nourishing and protecting liquid contained by the amniotic sac of a pregnant woman. The amniotic sac grows and begins to fill, mainly with water, around two weeks after fertilization. After a further 10 weeks the liquid contains proteins, carbohydrates, lipids...
- Apheresis
Apheresis is a medical technology in which the blood of a donor or patient is passed through an apparatus that separates out one particular constituent and returns the remainder to the circulation...
- ECMO
- Hemodialysis
In medicine, hemodialysis is a method for removing waste products such as potassium and urea, as well as free water from the blood when the kidneys are in renal failure. Hemodialysis is one of three renal replacement therapies .Hemodialysis can be an outpatient or inpatient therapy...
- Liver dialysis
Liver dialysis is a detoxification treatment for liver failure and has shown promise for patients with hepatorenal syndrome. It is similar to hemodialysis and based on the same principles...
- TPN
Parenteral nutrition is feeding a person intravenously, bypassing the usual process of eating and digestion. The person receives nutritional formulas containing salts, glucose, amino acids, lipids and added vitamins...
- Tissue engineering
Tissue engineering was once categorised as a subfield of biomaterials, but having grown in scope and importance it can be considered as a field in its own right. It is the use of a combination of cells, engineering and materials methods, and suitable biochemical and physio-chemical factors to...