The future we feared is here. Creating life using a robot. A Spanish startup company, Overture Life, has built a sperm-injecting robot using a PlayStation controller. The new system has already been used resulting in the recent births of two healthy babies. Though these two robot-manufactured babies raise a whole new level of concerns many hoped we would never get to.
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Advancements in assisted reproductive technologies have led to the development of a new technique known as in vitro gametogenesis (IVG). A modernized version of in vitro fertilization, that allows for the creation of embryos from non-reproductive cells, such as skin or blood cells. This groundbreaking technology leads to the creation of “designer babies” and raises ethical concerns about the future of reproduction.
IVF is a problematic procedure due to its destructive nature toward human embryos and the commodification of human life. The creation of multiple embryos during IVF treatment is often done with the intention of selecting the “best” embryos for implantation, leaving the “excess” embryos to be discarded or used for research. This destruction of human life is equivalent to abortion in the eyes of many. Focusing on fertility treatments can also lead to a mindset that sees children as commodities to be purchased, rather than gifts or miracles of life. This commodification of human life devalues the inherent worth of individuals and can lead to the manipulation of reproductive processes for profit.
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IVF is also a costly, delicate, and labor-intensive process that not always results in fertilization. This is where the idea of this “gametogenesis” process came into play. Using this method one researcher at Overture Life was able to successfully deposit single sperm cells into human eggs more than a dozen times. This new process could potentially mean a more acuate fertilization process. If scientists are able to fertilize a single egg with a single sperm cell directly and cut out the multi-fertilizing process they have been using they could cut the destruction of unborn human lives. However, there is still the element of designing babies and picking the best.
What are your thoughts, could this new process make IVF pro-life-oriented? Would it eliminate “designer baby” concerns if fertilization was a more accurate streamlined process resulting in no discard of life? Do you support this process?
