Artificial wombs and the promise for premature babies - Science Weekly podcast

Science Weekly

• Episode: Artificial wombs and the promise for premature babies - Science Weekly podcast
• Website: Science Weekly
• Feed URL: https://www.theguardian.com/science/series/science/podcast.xml
• Duration: 00:31:38
• Published: 2019-11-01 16:34

In October, a team of Dutch researchers were awarded a grant of €2.9m to develop a working prototype of an artificial womb for use in the clinic. But they are not the only ones working on this kind of technology. In 2017, a team in Philadelphia created the ‘biobag’, which could sustain premature lambs. Both teams hope their artificial wombs could allow premature babies to continue to develop as they would in a real womb, improving their chance of survival. Nicola Davis asks: What does current neonatal intensive care look like? Would an artificial womb really offer benefits? And what ethical and legal implications could arise if the technology is pursued?. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod