Parthenogenesis
The concept of “virgin birth”, as the name parthenogenesis directly translates, is not one of recent design. The entirety of the Judeo-Christian world is struck with the emphasis on Jesus Christ’s mother, Mary, and her birth without relation. This, however, was seen to be a (highly debated) miracle, without chance of recurrence, until now. Until the 20th century, it was thought that animals needed sex to reproduce, but in recent years, it has been made clear that even vertebrae can asexually reproduce when it is necessary. Most of the species in question are reptiles, fish, and other sea life, but the discovery nevertheless opened up a world of potential for humanity. Parthenogenesis is under the domain of genetics, and is …show more content…
The medical journal, Lancet, created a table displaying the possible obstacles that face this process, and how one could overcome them. The interesting aspect of this situation is how possible it actually is. The first option is simply stimulating the egg into believing it’s fertilized and applying genetic code manually, and the second is to give females the ability to produce sperm while they are still embryos. This would allow women to fertilize themselves when ready, and the baby would essentially be an identical twin to the mother. The problem is, with both of these methods, the chances of ever producing a healthy male would be extremely slim, as the traits to asexually reproduce would be passed down, and while women would have the ability to house both pieces to the puzzle, a man’s lack in a uterus would severely damage his reproductive value overall. If this process were to be perfected, the implications would be enormous. Males would become evolutionarily unnecessary, and through processes of darwinism, eventually die off. The entirety of society would be turned over on it’s head, since the majority of it has been patriarchal. The world would change in so many ways, it is impossible to truly understand what would become of it. There would no longer be two parts to a whole, and sex would be meaningless, and one could even argue that love would never extend familial
The concept of “virgin birth”, as the name parthenogenesis directly translates, is not one of recent design. The entirety of the Judeo-Christian world is struck with the emphasis on Jesus Christ’s mother, Mary, and her birth without relation. This, however, was seen to be a (highly debated) miracle, without chance of recurrence, until now. Until the 20th century, it was thought that animals needed sex to reproduce, but in recent years, it has been made clear that even vertebrae can asexually reproduce when it is necessary. Most of the species in question are reptiles, fish, and other sea life, but the discovery nevertheless opened up a world of potential for humanity. Parthenogenesis is under the domain of genetics, and is …show more content…
The medical journal, Lancet, created a table displaying the possible obstacles that face this process, and how one could overcome them. The interesting aspect of this situation is how possible it actually is. The first option is simply stimulating the egg into believing it’s fertilized and applying genetic code manually, and the second is to give females the ability to produce sperm while they are still embryos. This would allow women to fertilize themselves when ready, and the baby would essentially be an identical twin to the mother. The problem is, with both of these methods, the chances of ever producing a healthy male would be extremely slim, as the traits to asexually reproduce would be passed down, and while women would have the ability to house both pieces to the puzzle, a man’s lack in a uterus would severely damage his reproductive value overall. If this process were to be perfected, the implications would be enormous. Males would become evolutionarily unnecessary, and through processes of darwinism, eventually die off. The entirety of society would be turned over on it’s head, since the majority of it has been patriarchal. The world would change in so many ways, it is impossible to truly understand what would become of it. There would no longer be two parts to a whole, and sex would be meaningless, and one could even argue that love would never extend familial