THE GUARDIAN SCIENCE WEEKLY PODCAST: Artificial wombs and the promise for premature babies - Science Weekly podcast

  • Elizabeth Romanis

Press/Media: Expert comment

Description

In October, a team of Dutch researchers were awarded a grant of €2.9m to develop a working prototype of an artificial womb for use in the clinic. But they are not the only ones working on this kind of technology. In 2017, a team in Philadelphia created the ‘biobag’, which could sustain premature lambs. Both teams hope their artificial wombs could allow premature babies to continue to develop as they would in a real womb, improving their chance of survival. Nicola Davis asks: What does current neonatal intensive care look like? Would an artificial womb really offer benefits? And what ethical and legal implications could arise if the technology is pursued?

Period1 Nov 2019

Media contributions

1

Media contributions

  • TitleArtificial wombs and the promise for premature babies - Science Weekly podcast
    Media name/outletThe Guardian
    Media typeWeb
    Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
    Date1/11/19
    DescriptionIn October, a team of Dutch researchers were awarded a grant of €2.9m to develop a working prototype of an artificial womb for use in the clinic. But they are not the only ones working on this kind of technology. In 2017, a team in Philadelphia created the ‘biobag’, which could sustain premature lambs. Both teams hope their artificial wombs could allow premature babies to continue to develop as they would in a real womb, improving their chance of survival. Nicola Davis asks: What does current neonatal intensive care look like? Would an artificial womb really offer benefits? And what ethical and legal implications could arise if the technology is pursued?
    URLhttps://www.theguardian.com/society/audio/2019/nov/01/artificial-wombs-and-the-promise-for-premature-babies-science-weekly-podcast
    PersonsElizabeth Romanis
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Keywords

  • ethics
  • artificial womb