2023-11-15 13:15:39
This article was originally published in English
SpaceBorn intends to be the first to achieve conception of a baby in space.
ADVERTISEMENT
Does humanity need a plan B?
In case the answer to this question is positive, a Dutch entrepreneur decided to explore the possibility of reproducing in space.
Egbert Edelbroek heads the pioneering company SpaceBorn United. This society focuses on reproduction and potential births, in the partial gravity environment of the planet Mars.
This is a process with enormous challenges.
Although the prospect of first sexual relations in space may seem utopian, Egbert Edelbroek is convinced that he will witness the conception and birth of a human being in space during his lifetime.
“If we want human colonies (…) beyond Earth, and if we really want them to be independent, we must also take up the challenge of reproduction”affirms Egbert Edelbroek.
Humanity must therefore “become a multiplanetary species”he specifies, to AFP.
Faced with the colossal challenges of potential sexual encounters in space, the main obstacle being the absence of gravity that would separate couples, SpaceBorn United aims above all to conceive an embryo in space.
For ethical reasons, the company first works on the reproduction of mice, before considering sending human sperm and eggs far from Earth. To facilitate this operation, she developed a disk that mixes the cells.
“It’s like a space station for your cells”explains Aqeel Shamsul, CEO of the British company “Frontier Space Technologies”, which is collaborating on the project.
Ethical concerns
The embryo will then be cryogenically frozen to stop its development and guarantee a safe return in difficult conditions, particularly with regard to vibrations and gravitational forces.
A launch with mouse cells is planned for the end of next year, the first launch aimed at producing a human embryo to take “five or six years”according to Egbert Edelbroek.
However, this is only a small step, and a giant leap is required ethically, before such an embryo can be implanted into a woman, leading to the birth of the first child conceived in the ‘space.
“It’s a delicate subject. Ultimately, you are exposing vulnerable human cells, human embryos, to the dangers of space, an environment, for which embryos were never designed.”underlines Egbert Edelbroek.
The sensitivity of these issues is one reason why space reproduction research has generally been left to private companies, rather than NASA, he says.
Egbert Edelbroek, who believes that his company is the only one seeking to develop a human embryo in space, hopes that it will one day be possible to give birth to a human being in space, while admitting that the road is “long”.
Bodily fluids, pulled down on Earth, would be pulled up in a low-gravity environment, which would pose several problems.
While an adult’s body can tolerate some differences, a growing fetus is “more vulnerable” : “so we must first create the perfect environment”he says.
ADVERTISEMENT
An excessive ambition
The current development of space tourism is also a factor to take into consideration: a new type of traveler may want to be the first to design in space, says the entrepreneur who is raising awareness of the risks in the sector.
Spaceborn’s research, which replicates the process of in vitro fertilization in space, also helps people conceive on Earth, he says.
He initially hoped a baby could be conceived in space within a few years, but the scale of the challenges forced him to temper his ambitions.
“We went from crazy ambition to very high ambition”he emphasizes.
However, the 48-year-old remains convinced that a baby will be born in space during his lifetime.
ADVERTISEMENT
“I think I’ll reach at least 100 years. So that should give us enough decades to get there,” he concludes.
1700054429
#Dutch #company #plans #babies #space