occurs. Scientists hope it can be used to create synthetic human organs for transplantation. The embryos grew in vitro and subsequently ex utero in an artificial womb. The two studies were considered a milestone achievement, but the research is controversial. Potential applications include "uncovering the role of different genes in birth defects or developmental disorders", gaining "direct insight into the origins of a new life", "understand[ing] why some pregnancies fail", and developing sources "of organs and tissues for people who need them". The term 'synthetic embryo' in the title of the second study was later changed to the alternative term, "Embryo model". Bioethical considerations The development of artificial uteri and ectogenesis raises a few bioethical and legal considerations, and also has important implications for reproductive rights and the abortion debate. Artificial uteri may expand the range of fetal viability, raising questions about the role that fetal viability plays within abortion law. Within severance theory, for example, abortion rights only include the right to remove the fetus, and do not always extend to the termination of the fetus. If transferring the fetus from a woman's womb to an artificial uterus is possible, the choice to terminate a pregnancy in this way could provide an alternative to aborting the fetus. There are also theoretical concerns that children who develop in an artificial uterus may lack "some essential bond with their mothers that other children have"; a secondary issue to woman's rights over their own body. In the 1970 book The Dialectic of Sex, feminist Shulamith Firestone wrote that differences in biological reproductive roles are a source of gender inequality. Firestone singled out pregnancy and childbirth, making the argument that an artificial womb would free "women from the tyranny of their reproductive biology." See also Ectopic pregnancy Endometrium IVF Placenta Uterus Amniotic fluid Apheresis ECMO Hemodialysis Liver dialysis TPN Tissue engineering References Further reading Developmental biology