The artificial uterus will have to be modified
Scientists told about the pros and cons of the first artificial uterus
The recently presented artificial uterus is not yet suitable for carrying premature babies, as it does not protect them from infections and does not supply them with maternal hormones and other important signaling molecules, according to an article published in the journal Nature (Claire T. Roberts, Biomedical research: Premature lambs grown in a bag).
"Yes, the "bio bag" is really a breakthrough invention, but its full potential can be used only if its design is brought to mind. In this case, such devices can be used to save the lives of a large number of premature babies in intensive care units of maternity hospitals," says Claire Roberts, a medic from the University of Adelaide (Australia).
At the end of April, scientists from the United States told about the creation of the world's first prototype of an "artificial uterus" – a life support system for premature babies and fetuses outside the mother's body. Biologists have tested the work of this system on premature lambs born a third prematurely. Biologists managed to save the lives of some of these embryos, and other individuals died from infections or errors in the preparation of the bio-bag.
According to Roberts, this device, despite its practical operability, cannot yet be used to save the lives of premature babies for the reason that this device does not imitate all aspects of the uterus and placenta, which nourishes and supports the work of the embryo's body.
For example, the placenta and the mother's body produce a whole set of hormones that control the growth of certain organs in her child's body. Some of them are now injected into the mother's body proactively, to accelerate the growth of the embryo and strengthen its lungs. This makes such embryos incompatible with the "bio bag", inside which the child is in a special amniotic fluid, in which the "adult" lungs will not be able to function normally.
In addition, this liquid, as Roberts notes, does not contain antibodies, which are usually produced by the mother's body to protect the child, which can also negatively affect its development and the death of the embryo a few days after implantation. In addition, the appearance of the bio bag and the image of a child sealed in a bag with liquid can cause acute rejection among many parents and force them to abandon such a procedure.
All this, in her opinion, should be taken into account when creating new versions of the "bio-bags" adapted to work with babies, not baby animals.
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06.06.2017