‘Artificial womb’ which can grow up to 30,000 babies a year? Scientist’s film shocks the internet

A short concept video by Berlin-based Hashem Al-Ghaili, a filmmaker and biotechnologist has been making rounds on social media talking about how artificial wombs could be a “safe and pain-free alternative” to have babies in the future. Al-Ghaili came up with the idea of an EctoLife Artificial Womb Facility.

Additionally, the video also shows how the “world’s first artificial womb facility” which is still just a concept, allows parents to produce a customised baby which could be “reinventing evolution” by growing up to 30,000 babies in a year.

“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,” said the voiceover of the almost nine-minute animated video.

Based on five decades of what the filmmaker calls “groundbreaking scientific research” by scientists across the world, the video claims that it is aimed to help countries that are suffering from a decline in population giving the example of Japan, Bulgaria, and South Korea.

According to the video, the facility will run on renewable energy and house 75 labs, each equipped with up to 400 “growth pods”. The pods would be designed to replicate the environment inside a mother’s womb, in addition to the number of sensors and scanners to monitor the baby’s growth the data for which would be accessible to parents on their phones.

Furthermore, the growth pod and constant monitoring of the baby would also allow parents to know about any potential genetic abnormalities, said the video. However, before the artificial womb, the video shows that an IVF would be carried out by using the sperm and egg to create and then select the most genetically superior embryo.

“You can edit any trait of your baby through a wide range of over 300 genes”, said the video. The babies would be taken out with a push of a button, with EctoLife providing a “safe and pain-free alternative”. Furthermore, it also said that with their miniaturised version of the product parents would be able to incubate their baby at home.

Understandably the video has received some mixed reactions, ranging from “insane” to “appalled” and “totally crazy”. The video has garnered 505,753 views on Youtube since it was first posted on December 9.

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