Story's like this just make me amazed at what humans are capable of discovering.
Anecdote: My mom had open heart surgery and when they cut open her chest, her breastbone shattered. They reconstructed the bone using a mesh cylinder that, yep, biodegrades over the course of a decade. AWESOME. #breastcancer
My husband and I did in vitro fertilization, so wasn't my kid that I'm currently pregnant with . . . made in a dish?
On a weird side note, I actually found out that the embryologist who "made" my kid is the wife of a colleague of mine at work . . . and she totally saw me naked.
Also, you can't just make people in a dish. Uteruses are kind of important, as well as all the hormones and whatnot. You can fertilize cells in a dish for sure, but there's a reason we implant those and don't grow them in jars like in A Brave New World.
@sciencerules: Yet. I'm developing a synthetic uterus prototype in my bathroom. It's mostly construction paper and party balloons at this point so it's probably a ways out from clinical trials, but I'm pretty optimistic.
Um...aren't we already creating human life in "dishes" already? Like, all the time? What the hell do these people think happens with IVF? It's not like the creation of artificial sperm negate the need for an incubator (womb).
So my baby sis and bro, being a product of artificial insemination are essentially 'dish babies' and therefor not OK according to the media? They look just fine to me (cute, smart, annoying, normal kids)!
So, am I lacking some natural, moral feeling since I don't think fertilizing an egg with lab made sperm in a petri dish is inherently unethical?
I love how every time some news come out about reproductive research the usual suspects start running around like headless chickens while screaming "Immoral, Teh Endz IZ NEAR!, men will be replaced by ROBOTS!!"
@so5minutesago: I could see this happening without this procedure. Not that it can be done right now (that I know of) but it's plausible that you could inject the DNA from one partner into the egg of the other partner, and -with proper conditions in the cell media and the addition of a bunch of cofactors into the solution afterward- make the egg that has now a complete set of instructions and could generate a viable fetus.
But again, I have no idea if it can be done nowadays.
Actually if you can store sperm and use it years after beng donated to fertilise an egg, then you would only need to keep a sufficiently large supply of frozen male cells to carry on the human race. Therefore, in theory, you would not need to keep men alive for breeding purposes.
You know what, crazy public that fears all? All this sciency shit isn't going to replace real, old-timey baby-making. Why? BECAUSE PEOPLE LOVE SCREWING.
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I don't want no mutant titties... or do I? #breastcancer
11/12/09
@Kilotwat: Be careful, if Woody Allen taught us anything, is that those things can take a life of their own. #breastcancer
11/12/09
Anecdote: My mom had open heart surgery and when they cut open her chest, her breastbone shattered. They reconstructed the bone using a mesh cylinder that, yep, biodegrades over the course of a decade. AWESOME. #breastcancer
11/12/09
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On a weird side note, I actually found out that the embryologist who "made" my kid is the wife of a colleague of mine at work . . . and she totally saw me naked.
07/08/09
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So, am I lacking some natural, moral feeling since I don't think fertilizing an egg with lab made sperm in a petri dish is inherently unethical?
Help me jezzies, what am I missing here??
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But again, I have no idea if it can be done nowadays.
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