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Remember that this technology does not cover the full gestation period. It only works starting at the edge of viability. In order for an extremely premature l
by jawns 10y ago
Remember that this technology does not cover the full gestation period. It only works starting at the edge of viability.
In order for an extremely premature lamb to end up in one of these bags, either preterm birth must be induced, or surgery must take place. Neither of those options is low-cost or without the potential for significant complications. You would likely end up with high rates of mortality and morbidity, and even if the BioBags were able to successfully sustain the animals, they would probably never be considered suitable for anything other than research.
There may come a day when a BioBag is able to cover the full gestation period, but even then, I highly doubt that it would be cheap enough for use with livestock.
- cr0sh 10y agoThis kind of research has been going on for quite a while: http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/29/magazine/the-artificial-womb-is-born.html http://www.nytimes.com/1996/09/29/magazine/the-artificial-wo... http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hsr/wp-content/themes/hsr/pdf/fall2008/35-39%20ArtificialWombs.pdf http://www.hcs.harvard.edu/~hsr/wp-content/themes/hsr/pdf/fa... Not discounting what you are saying; just wanted to add some more context...
- mikeyouse 10y agoMaybe my imagination it too dystopian today but I'm imagining artificial insemination to get a dozen lambs gestating and then you could C-section (or slaughter) the ewe after a few months.. That would take you from 1-2 lambs every 2 years to a dozen lambs in year 1.
- BronSteeDiam 10y agoThat's basically how you get mice embryos at the moment. There are several companies that provide this service.