Tuesday, January 17, 2017

The era of Embryo-farm is approaching

Birth of a human is a fantastic event. And many people are suffering from it, as well. Some women are enthusiastic to gain a child, but not to be realized for several reasons. Some babies have congenital diseases which will be a burden for the lifetime. The process of newborn is too complex for anyone to control manually; as it has been believed so far.


Last October, Japanese researchers were successful to create baby mice from eggs which were produced from skin cells. This experiment is so impressive that it means potentially we can create babies without an egg.

Some researchers claim that we can create a baby without eggs nor sperms in the near future. It will be a blessing for persons who want a child but have infertility. It is estimated that there are 500,000 patients consulting an infertility clinic in Japan. Considering that this kind of treatment is expensive, there may be more than one million patients suffering from this problem. It will be wonderful if they can be given a child thanks to the new treatment.

However, reproduction without eggs is substantially dangerous. There are limited persons one women can deliver. The method of generating eggs from other cells will dismiss this limitation. Thus, we can potentially create unlimited numbers of children. It is not a Sci-Fi plot. Overcoming several difficulties is necessary to realize this procedure, it is not impossible, nevertheless.

The Guardian: New fertility procedure may lead to 'embryo farming', warn researchers

Therefore, some researchers have warned the risk of so-called embryo-farm. Do you imagine that thousands of clones are grown in a tube? Another issue is selective production. What do you think If you are notified that your baby will have a serious congenital disease, and you have a chance to retry it? In kettle bleeding, selection of life is ordinarily conducted. If it is adopted to human society, it will be no more than a dystopia.

I believe there is a need for restriction of such type of research. But, it is also true that some people need to be treated for the survival of them and their offspring. It is not easy to distinguish breach of life ethics from philanthropic care. Broad discussion is required.

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