Throughout human history, people have had sex for procreation and pleasure. However, in the 21st century, sex for the sake of conception has faded into the background, because many people have begun to treat it with more caution, and large families are rare today. In addition, some couples resort toartificial insemination—sperm and eggs are combined outside the human body and then placed in the woman’s body. In some cases, the fertilized egg is received by a completely different woman who agrees to carry the child for others, this is calledsurrogacyAccording to some scientists, in the future, in order to conceive a child, sperm and eggs will not be needed at all. And carrying a baby will also be left behind. How will this be possible?
A genetics professor said that in the future people will procreate using fantastic technologies
< p>Henry Greeley, a professor of genetics at Stanford Medical School, recently shared his predictions about how sex and procreation will change in the future. His predictions at first seem unrealistic, but then it turns out that this is far from fantasy.
Contents
- 1 How to conceive a child with infertility
- 2 Artificial insemination without sperm
- 3 Editing the child’s genes
- 4 Carrying a child without a mother
How to conceive a child with infertility
Artificial insemination is a very important invention that has helped millions of families around the world have children. This technology was first successfully applied in 1977 in the UK. As a result, Louise Brown was born, the world's first “test-tube” human.
Louise Brown
In artificial insemination, sperm and eggs are required from a man and a woman. According to Henry Greeley, in the future they will not be necessary, because to conceive a child it will be possible to useany material from the human body.Even particles of skin can be suitable as a sample. The main thing is that the material contains genetic data.
Read also:Is it true that children born as a result of IVF have an increased risk of death?
Artificial fertilization without sperm
The technology of conceiving a child using ordinary cells is called in vitro gametogenesis, and in foreign sources it is referred to asIVGIt does not exist yet, but scientists are working in this direction, and there is no particular doubt about the efficiency of this technique. To put it simply, to conceive a child, it will be possible to take samples of the skin of the father and mother, turn them into sperm and eggs, and then place them inside the woman for gestation.
In 2022, scientists were able to turn stem cells into sperm in an experiment with laboratory rats. Stem cells come from a variety of sources—for example, in adults, they can be extracted from the bone marrow. Experience has shown that healthy offspring are born from sperm obtained in this way. But the experiment was carried out on animals; no one has ever conducted such serious experiments on humans.
Experimental technology has made it possible to give birth to healthy offspring
Thanks to this technology, in the future, not only infertile couples will be able to give birth to a child. 90-year-old people, and even long-dead men and women, will be able to procreate without any problems – the main thing is that their cells are frozen.
But this technology also has anegative side.Perhaps with her appearance many public scandals will arise. For example, someone could steal a handkerchief from a celebrity and, based on genetic data, create germ cells to conceive a child. In this case, the celebrity can be considered the father of this baby.
Another interesting achievement:Mice born from two fathers turned out to be absolutely healthy
Gene editing baby
People will be able to conceive a child even without sex, and this sounds like something fantastic. But that's not all – a future family member can be “edited” so that he does not have diseases and other problems.
In 2018, Chinese scientist He Jiankui announced that he was able to edit genes in the embryos of two girls. This news caused a big scandal because he carried out this manipulation without any permission – he was sent to prison for three years.
Chinese biologist He Jian kui
Human gene editing technology is banned because no one can be absolutely sure that it does not harm people. But if it is allowed, it is quite possible that in this way parents will be able to protect their children from diseases that are inherited. Perhaps with the help of itit will be possible to create “super-people”who do not have any shortcomings. This can also cause scandals.
Article on the topic:How can parents choose the gender of the child in advance and why is this bad?
Carrying a child without a mother h2>
Children can be conceived without sex, and then changed in the “editor” like in some kind of computer game. What else can science surprise?
According to Henry Greeley, in the future women will be able to avoid carrying a child – special devices will do it instead. Using stem cells, scientists can grow almost any organ of the human body, including the uterus. And in theory, based on artificial wombs, they will be able to create “incubators” for bearing children. For several months, mothers will still have to walk with the child in their womb, but then development will occur inside a special capsule.
In the future, mothers will not need to carry children for 9 months
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Everything written above today sounds like science fiction, but it cannot be ruled out that someday all this will become a reality. After all, steps in this direction are already being taken, and very successful ones at that. What do you think about all this? You can share your opinion in our Telegram chat.