An “artificial womb facility”, a large space with 30,000 “growth pods” or artificial wombs which can grow 30,000 human babies: this is what is featured in a newly-released concept video that is getting shock reactions on the internet. The video, which looks straight out of a science fiction film, is purely imaginary at the moment.
The facility, which does not exist in real, is aimed to help countries suffering from population decline, the video claims.
The 8:39-minute animation video, made by Yemeni molecular biotechnologist Hashem Al-Ghaili, features EctoLife, an imaginary artificial womb facility. The large laboratory has a large number of pods or artificial wombs, inside which babies are grown. The video claims that the facility will be powered entirely by renewable energy.
“Ectolife allows infertile couples to conceive a baby and become the true parents of their own offspring. It is a perfect solution for women who had their uterus surgically removed due to cancer or other complications,” the voiceover in the video says.
The imaginary facility features 75 labs, with each lab being able to accommodate 400 growth pods or artificial wombs. The pods are designed to replicate the conditions inside a mother’s uterus. The growth pods will have sensors that can monitor the baby’s vital signs such as heartbeat, blood pressure, breathing rate and oxygen saturation.
Such a womb can also monitor any potential genetic abnormalities, the video claims.
Before the action shifts to the growth pods, invitro fertilisation (IVF) is carried out to using the sperm and egg create and then select the most genetically superior embryo.
“Any trait” of the baby, such as hair colour, eye colour, height, intelligence and skin tone can be genetically edited through a range of over 300 genes, according to the concept video.
So how are the babies grown in artificial wombs delivered? According to the concept video, parents can say goodbye to labour pain. The babies can be taken out of the artificial womb with the push of a button.
Many people who watched the video, which has over 2.3 lakh views, were left shocked and left comments dismissing the concept.
“I cannot find the words to describe how appalled I am with this concept. It is probably because I wasn't created from the elite package,” wrote YouTube user Susies.
“The world truly has gone insane...,” another user commented.
In December last year, after billionaire Elon Musk expressed concern about “population collapse”, saying that if there are not enough people for Earth, there certainly will not be enough for Mars, many people chimed in with suggestions for the Tesla chief , including the use of synthetic or artificial wombs that could potentially develop a foetus outside the human body.
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