WHAT IS ECTOLIFE? ARTIFICIAL WOMB FACILITY CONCEPT GOES VIRAL

A video of a fake artificial womb facility called EctoLife that grows babies in labs has gone viral on social media this week.

The clip looks like something out of a sci-fi movie, showing thousands of rows of babies inside a lab-created wombs.

It doesn’t exist, but it is a real concept that the film’s creator thinks could be a viable solution for infertility across the world.

WHAT IS ECTOLIFE?

EctoLife is a scientific reproduction concept created by a producer, filmmaker and molecular biologist called Hashem Al-Ghaili.

Based in Berlin, Germany, Hashem uses his “knowledge and passion for science to educate the public through social media and video content,” his website reveals.

The science communicator’s Facebook has over 33 million followers, and he produces hundreds of fake scientific concepts and videos like the artificial womb one.

EctoLife isn’t actually real, and the facility doesn’t exist on Earth – but it is a concept that could hypothetically happen in the future.

ARTIFICIAL WOMB FACILITY VIDEO GOES VIRAL

“Introducing Ectolife, the world’s first artificial womb facility powered entirely by renewable energy,” the viral audio says.

A cartoon video shows babies lined up in fake wombs and whilst the video is fictional, it is a frightening look into what our future could hold.

“Ectolife allows infertile couples to conceive a baby and become the true biological parents of their own offspring,” it continues.

The concept claims to be the “perfect solution” for women who have had to have their uterus removed due to medical complications.

It also says premature births and c-sections will be a “thing of the past” and claims to be able to incubate 30,000 babies per year.

IT COULD BE THE FUTURE OF REPRODUCTION

The clip might be fake, but it’s a real concept based on predictions of the future. A post on the filmmaker’s Facebook page says EctoLife is “what the future of human birth will look like”.

He explains that according to the World Health Organization, around 48 million couples and 186 million individuals have infertility globally.

“My new concept – EctoLife – promises to make age-related infertility a thing of the past, allowing women to conceive a baby at literally any age,” he says.

“Imagine being freed from the biological burden of having to rush into having a baby before your 40s, to the point where you accept whatever mate you can find just to catch up with age and get your egg fertilized on time!”

Hassan claims that scientists have already managed to turn skin cells into embryos without eggs or sperm on mice and this could be replicated on humans.

“Once you have a viable embryo, you can just place it in the artificial womb – EctoLife – and allow it to continue developing until the baby is ready for the world,” he says.

However, the scientist argues that we need to end the restrictions on human embryo research and to “begin exploring” infertility options like this.