FDA panel will meet TODAY to discuss ethics of growing human babies in ‘artificial wombs’ – after success in animals

A panel of government health advisers will meet today to discuss the ethics of growing babies in artificial wombs.

The technology has been successfully developed in several animals in recent years, prompting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to consider whether it should be tested in humans.

Many experts believe it could be a game-changer if used to mimic conditions in the womb and help treat health complications in the growing number of premature babies in the US.

Before the breakthrough can be used in humans, researchers will have to show that the device helps babies grow and develop with fewer chances of health problems than with existing technology.

The premature birth rate in the United States has risen to its highest level since records began, according to a March of Dimes report. About 10.5 percent of babies are born prematurely, putting them at higher risk of developing mental and developmental problems. This is an increase of four per cent or 18,000 babies on 2020, with the Covid pandemic believed to be the driving force.

The Pediatric Advisory Committee, an independent panel of health experts, will meet today and Wednesday via teleconference.

Although the two-day meeting will help guide the agency, the FDA will make its own decision and is not required to follow the advisors’ guidance.

At this stage, artificial wombs are not designed to grow a baby from scratch, although advances in the field have led some to believe that is on the horizon.

Instead, they would be used to care for one in every 100 babies born before 28 weeks of gestation, which is considered extremely premature.

It could also combat the infant mortality rate in the United States, which experts say is “much higher” than in other developed countries.

Unlike conventional incubators in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), this technique uses an “extrauterine support device” that mimics the conditions of a real uterus.

The baby’s heart circulates blood through the umbilical cord to a machine that replaces the mother’s placenta.

Nutrient-enriched synthetic amniotic fluid flows in and out of the nearly sterile, temperature-controlled “biobag.”

The goal is to provide an environment in which tiny premature babies can safely develop their lungs and other organs during the critical period of 23 to 28 weeks after conception.

The map above shows preterm birth rates in all US states over the past year and across the country (top right). Rates are shown in parentheses in each state, and the color reveals the rating they received. A key showing how each grade was awarded is displayed on the right side.

The map above shows infant mortality rates by state. Rates fell in 2021, but medical experts still warned that the United States was one of the worst countries for infant mortality.

This technology is still new and has been used primarily in animals.

In a 2017 study, a group of researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia tested the technology for the first time, keeping a premature lamb alive for 28 days in a sterilized plastic bag filled with fluid.

Before these artificial wombs, researchers had only been able to keep one lamb alive in an artificial system for 60 hours, and those lambs suffered severe brain damage.

Later that year, a team in Australia replicated the device and called it the “ex vivo uterine environment,” or EVE.

In 2021, researchers from the University of Toronto They tested an artificial placenta on pig fetuses, but reported blood circulation and heart problems.

Earlier this month, a team of scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science developed a human embryo-like entity without using sperm, eggs or a uterus.

The embryo even released enough of the hormone that pregnant women produce to fail a pregnancy test, resulting in a positive result in the lab.

Artificial wombs could reduce complications from premature births, which have reached record levels in the United States.

A report released last year by the nonprofit group March of Dimes found that 10.5 percent of births in the United States were premature, meaning they occurred before 37 weeks of gestation.

This is a four per cent increase from 2020 and is the highest figure to date.

Researchers warned that the country was at a “critical moment” and experts sounded the alarm that the United States was “failing moms and babies.”

Mississippi had the highest preterm birth rate in the country, at 15 percent of all births, followed by Louisiana at 13.5 percent and then Alabama at 13.1 percent.

Rising rates of obesity and associated conditions such as type 2 diabetes are believed to be behind this rise, as well as pressure on healthcare services due to the Covid pandemic.

A baby’s lungs and brain finish developing late in pregnancy, so those born prematurely are at risk for health problems such as difficulty breathing, gastrointestinal problems, vision and hearing problems, and developmental delays. .

The report also showed that the U.S. infant mortality rate fell 3.7 percent last year to 5.4 per 1,000, but experts warned it was still “much higher” than other developed countries. The United Kingdom, France, Sweden and many other European nations have significantly lower rates.

The first day of the panel hearings will be open to the public, but the second will be closed because proprietary information is being discussed, the FDA said.