Scientists were able to continue the development of premature lambs in an artificial womb


    The development of lambs is visible to the naked eye. Experts talk about the normal course of the process.

    The development of mammals in the womb is a very complicated process. Yes, we are all accustomed to it and know about what happens during the development of the fetus - be it a person or a jerboa. For a long time, scientists have set themselves the goal of growing a living being outside the uterus, in an artificial environment. Actively deal with this problem for twenty years. Some experts are close to solving this problem. A team of specialists from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) has developed a method for raising mammals in an artificial womb.

    This method has already been tested and, as far as you can understand, it works well. In the laboratory of the project participants - not one, but immediately eight early fruits (lambs), which continue to grow and develop. Their lungs, brain and other organs increase in size and gradually approach the norm for newborns. Lambs already open their eyes, begin to make swallowing movements - in general, all that is done and ordinary animals that have not yet been born, but are in the womb of a sheep. Perhaps, scientists say, in the future, this method will help, without risk to health, “endow” prematurely born babies in artificial environments. This is necessary if for some reason the mother cannot bear the child in time in a natural way.

    “To think that you can take an embryo, allow it to develop and place it in an artificial uterus to reach the stage of birth is pure fantasy,” says Alan Flake, fetal surgeon at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. According to his words , yet the reality - it is an opportunity to bring an early stage of the fetus before birth. It is too early to think about the process of embryo development from the embryo stage to the stage of birth.



    As for the artificial uterus, it looks more like a vacuum package when viewed from the side. But in fact, this system has all those elements that are inherent in the uterus of living, quite real and real sheep. Inside it is a solution in which the fetus floats. This solution removes harmful substances from the body of the lamb, while simultaneously providing gas exchange. The results of his work Flake and colleagues published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

    Scientists called the artificial womb itself Biobag. Actually, this is really a biobag, nothing more, nothing less. Flake claims that a method developed at the hospital will soon help save the lives of premature babies. Prematurity, he said, is one of the most frequent causes of death in children. About 10% of babies born before the 37th week of pregnancy are born prematurely. 6% of children are born even earlier - before reaching the 28th week of pregnancy. Actually, the more time a prematurely born child remains before the normal term of birth, the less chances he has to survive.

    Scientists have developed several fairly effective methods for maintaining life in premature babies. But these methods still can not be called too effective and 100% reliable. Moreover, many prematurely born children and survivors suffer from a series of diseases due to the side effects of modern methods of donating. Something else is required. And the method that Flake and his colleagues created may be different. Of course, now no one will allow them to conduct experiments on children. But it is possible to carry out experiments on animals, than experts and are engaged most of the time. If the method of artificial cultivation of an early mammalian fetus would be improved, then the next step could be to help people.

    One of the main tasks that face the specialists who are engaged in the creation of an artificial uterus is the development of a system for the circulation of liquids and gases, which could replace a natural analogue. In addition, it is necessary to work out the blood supply to the growing organism, which means creating a system of pumps capable of maintaining normal pressure in the fetal blood system.

    But Flake and his colleagues went the other way. They developed a special type of oxygenator, connected it to the fetal blood system, and blood now circulates freely through this system. There are no pumps in it, the working heart of the fetus plays the role of this pump and quite successfully.

    Another problem is infection. We can not allow the risk of infection of the fetus, which has no immunity, or it is extremely weak. In this case, special rooms with a minimum content of microorganisms in the air and on surfaces are used. As mentioned above, toxins from the body of the fetus are removed with the help of a special fluid that simultaneously supplies the body's tissues with oxygen.


    Scientists tested their system on the seven early fruits of sheep, whose age was 105-120 days. This is equivalent to 22-24 weeks of gestation in humans. Four weeks after the lambs were placed in the artificial womb, they were studied. No signs of damage, no other problems, scientists have found.

    Of course, sheep are not people, they evolve in a somewhat different way, especially if you keep in mind the nervous system and the brain. Nevertheless, a start has been made, and soon scientists hope to develop an effective and reliable system for saving premature babies. But until this point, specialists still have a lot of work to do.

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