ectogenesis:
Ectogenesis (from the Greek ecto, “outer,” and genesis) is the growth of an organism in an artificial environment[1] outside the body in which it would normally be found, such as the growth of an embryo or fetus outside the mother’s body, or the growth of bacteria outside the body of a host.[2] The term was coined by British scientist J.B.S. Haldane in 1924. [Wikipedia]
Encountered on The Crux by David Warmflash:
In 1924, British physiologist and geneticist John Burdon Sanderson Haldane coined the term ectogenesis. Haldane was thinking of an artificial process in which development, from fertilization to birth, could occur outside of a woman’s body.
He described ectogenesis in a work called Daedalus, where he predicted that about 70 percent of human babies would be born this way by the year 2074. Today, 92 years after Daedalus, judging by the pace of neonatology, genetics and other areas of biomedicine, it appears that we’re on track to have an artificial uterus-placenta of some kind within Haldane’s predicted timeframe.
