Rent-A-Womb

The project proposes an alternative method of giving birth through genetically modified pigs in the near future. The scenario imagines that it has become a routinely used fertility practice for people either who do not want to risk pregnancy and childbirth, or who are biologically infertile. As pigs today have high genetic similarity to humans and their organs closely match the size of those of humans, they are being studied as an ideal transplant model for humans. The pigs, employed as human gestational surrogate, are classified as a different species from domestic ones. Produced solely as human breeders, their uterus does not recognize human cells as foreign, so it can provide receptive environment for the growth of human embryos. This could theoretically work through the methodology called CRISPR, a gene-editing technology that removes the DNA sequence of endogenous retroviruses from the pig's genome to create tissues and organs suitable to synchronization with human. How will this emerging assisted reproductive technology affect our future? Will it liberate women from their potential reproductive roles? Or will it reinscribe existing inequalities and produce novel ones?

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