Ectolife factories are a cause for concern

Children will no longer be born they will be grown.

The worlds first facility is said to be set to grow 30,000 babies a year.

The concept is the brainchild of Berlin-based Hashem Al-Ghaili, a producer, filmmaker and science communicator and “molecular biologist by trade”, as per his website.

The facility — which would run on renewable energy — plans to house 75 labs, each equipped with up to 400 growth pods or artificial wombs, reports UK’s Metro newspaper.
These pods are designed to provide the same environment that is present inside a mother’s womb.
Parents can keep a track of their baby’s growth and development through a screen on the pods that showcase real-time data, as per Metro.
This data can also be monitored via an app on the phone.
“The artificial-intelligence based system also monitors the physical features of your baby and reports any potential genetic abnormalities”, Al-Ghaili was quoted as saying by Mirror.co.uk.
During the time of delivery, the baby can be removed from the pod with the “push of a button”.

EctoLife provides you a safe, pain-free alternative that helps you deliver your baby without stress. The delivery process is smooth, convenient, and can be done with just a push of a button”, a statement was cited by Metro.
“After discharging the amniotic fluid from the artificial womb, you will be able to easily remove your baby from the growth pod”, it further explained.
Artificial wombs
Al-Ghaili believes that artificial womb facilities could become a reality in 10 years or so if ethical restrictions are removed, reports Mirror.co.uk.
“Every single feature mentioned in the concept is 100 per cent science-based and has already been achieved by scientists and engineers”, he said.
“The only thing left is building a prototype by combining all the features into a single device”, the filmmaker was quoted as saying by Mirror.co.uk.
He says once ethical constraints are relaxed, people can be willing to adopt the technology in the near future.
“In terms of timeframe, it really depends on the ethical guidelines. Right now, research on human embryos is not allowed beyond 14 days. After 14 days, embryos must be destroyed due to ethical concerns”, the producer said.
“If these ethical restrictions are relaxed, I give it 10 to 15 years before EctoLife becomes widely used everywhere”, he stated, as per Metro.
“Add to that five years of public awareness and education to help people become more receptive to the technology”, Al-Ghaili added.

‘Elite Package’
An ‘Elite Package’ would allow people to “genetically engineer the embryo before implanting it into the artificial womb”, says Mirror.co.uk.
Parents can select their baby’s level of intelligence, height, hair, eye colour, physical strength and skin tone.

Thanks to CRISPR-Cas 9 gene editing tool, you can edit any trait of your baby through a wide range of over 300 genes”, a statement said, as per Metro.
The ‘Elite Package’ will also let parents “fix any inherited genetic diseases”.
Need for artificial womb
EctoLife provides an option for parents to have children without going through pregnancy or even conception, notes Interesting Engineering (IE).
Al-Ghaili claims the artificial womb facility can “help” countries facing the problem of a declining population such as Japan, Bulgaria, and South Korea among others.

It also aims to facilitate infertile couples to become parents of their own biological offspring.
The filmmaker believes the technology can be a solution for women who had their uterus removed due to cancer or other factors.
What experts say
Experts believe the technology is not that far-fetched and could become a reality in the future.
Andrew Shennan, a professor of Obstetrics at King’s College London, told HuffPost, “From a theoretical standpoint it’s possible. It’s just a matter of providing a correct environment with fuel and oxygen and I do think the technologies are there to be able to achieve that.

It is weird being an insider of the USA and watching what is going on! I was born in the early 1980’s and the change in values from my childhood till now is extreme! I cannot see half of what is happening in the USA being accepted when I was young. Although I am not sure that it is as widely accepted as people think, it may be more that the average person is not willing to put their family at risk in defying what has been deemed culturally acceptable by the media.

I’m making plans to go live in a rural part of northern Thailand. No more nonsense, no more freezing cold and no more horrid western society.

The Matrix, Book of Eli, Terminator, Hunger Games, and the Book of Revelation all play out at the same time in my lifetime…Yikes!