Test Tube Babies In Brave New World Essay

Superior Essays
Human genetics have led the way into new techniques of conception as well as embryo growth. Gene therapy has allowed genetic specialists to experiment with embryos in order to attempt to heal congenital birth defects as well as hereditary disorders. Although, the embryo receives nutrients from outside sources, the fetus receives no nutrition from the umbilical cord of a mother ultimately reducing the chances of survival. People who favor the use of human genetics for conception suggest that the technologies increase the chance of infertile parents creating offspring. However, the truth is using human genetics for conception increases the chance of a miscarriage, while also putting the mother and child in danger. In the novel, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, the World State uses variations of human genetics to split the egg in the Bokanovsky process, and allows them to create test tube babies. …show more content…
According to new advances in research the eggs go through a removal process in which then, “… they are mixed with sperm in a laboratory dish or test tube. (This is where the term “test tube baby” comes from) (Farina). Test tube babies are used during the process of in vitro fertilization. Currently in society today there are few procedures in which the egg is actually grown outside of a woman’s body, much like the processes in Brave New World. Scientist have discovered with continuous work that “In vitro fertilization is a procedure where the joining of egg and sperm takes place outside of the woman's body” (Farina), and also allows for the survival of the embryo itself. With time and continuous work, in the future we may be able to leave a fertilized egg outside the mother’s body for a longer period of time, which will decrease the strain on a woman, and allow for alternative

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Pioneering of IVF It is amazing to know that there are people who were born into the world unnaturally. It may seem odd, but there are people who were once a test tube baby. The term test tube baby came from the late Dr. Edwin Carl Wood. Dr. Wood played an important role in the process of developing and commercializing the in-vitro fertilization (IVF) technique which has molded society into accepting the process of a scientifically fabricated child.…

    • 938 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Many forms of writing can have similarities in forms of tone or the format of how the essay is set up. Essays also can have many difference such as the type of words that are chosen or the overall purpose of what the essay is about. These similarities and differences can help the author establish their topic. In the essay" Sex, Drugs, Disasters, and the Extinction of Dinosaurs", Stephen Jay Gould uses many techniques to establish his point throughout his essay. Sharon Begley's" Designer Babies" also has techniques to make the essay clear of her view point.…

    • 689 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Allowing different research to solving infertility in the women creating healthier cells in the process, “Cloning technique worked best when an adult cell was fused with an egg donated by the same woman, and did not yield good quality blastocysts when male cells were used”(Westphal…

    • 1505 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Embryonic Stem Cell Research Think of an axolotl, otherwise known as a salamander. These creatures can regrow or regenerate any limb or vital structure in their body to survive. I’m not saying that humans can regrow their limbs, but they can come pretty close. Like the cells in an axolotl, embryonic stem cells have regenerative properties that can regenerate in a human body. They are immortal and have unlimited developmental possibilities.…

    • 2203 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    While the idea of creating an artificial child may seem immoral, there are more advantages to designer babies than just eliminating disabilities. In addition to creating a fairer environment for all children, this procedure could also make them live longer with the discarding of disease causing genes. Furthermore, the newfound experience and data collected from this procedure could also help geneticists progress faster in their research in genetics. The operation could be also viewed as ethically accepted since some women take prenatal pills during pregnancy to ensure…

    • 540 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Huxley starts off Brave New World in a factory like setting where they produce offspring and condition them to do their jobs. This is the first example of how the totalitarian government controls its people through science. Scientists in the New World have developed the “Bokanovsky Process” (Huxley 6). The director describes it saying “One egg, one embryo, one adult-normality.…

    • 1688 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The first form of pre-implantation procedures, taking place in Britain in 1990, was restricted from using the science in any way that could be perceived as unethical. These procedures were developed to help parents bear children free of harmful inherited conditions, known as "pre-implantation genetic diagnosis (PGD).” The PGD process begins with a test-tube evaluation of an embryo, removing any embryos containing a harmful disease. The embryos determined to be clear of any detrimental conditions are then implanted into the mother through in-vitro fertilization.…

    • 347 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Brilliant Essays

    The Pros And Cons Of Babies

    • 2056 Words
    • 9 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited

    The increase of knowledge regarding the topic altering genes has become rapid and have open and paved the hope of designing your own perfect baby. Even today, the use of reforming and adjusting the genes of an unborn child is being put in effect. “Techniques of genetic screening are already being used, whereby embryos can be selected by sex and checked for certain disease-bearing genes. This can lead to either the termination of a pregnancy, or if analyzed at a pre-implantation stage when using In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), can enable the pregnancy to be created using only non-disease bearing genes” (Steere, 2011, para. 6). Altering the babies genes can not only harm the baby, however, can also terminate the baby.…

    • 2056 Words
    • 9 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited
    Brilliant Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Aldous Huxley, the author of a dystopian book Brave New World, wrote his work during the Great Depression of the 1930s and created a humorous future of the humans. At the time, he perhaps created some elements of the book as humorist, such as cloning or genetic adjustments. In hindsight, we can see that not everything was only a satiric drivel, but many elements in the book are available today thanks to improvements in science, such as previously mentioned genetic engineering. Do these inventions help to improve our society or they lead us to destruction? Economic inequality, that has been increasing in the past few decades creates a system of castes and divides the population between rich and poor.…

    • 1067 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ivf Effectiveness

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages

    What is IVF and How is it Effective Today? In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) is a controversial topic going on in the United States today. The Mayo Clinic describes the process by saying, “IVF is a complex series of procedures used to treat fertility or genetic problems and assist with the conception of a child.” Dr. Silber says, “Our IVF pregnancy rate is over 50% per attempt, regardless of diagnosis, and we accept all of the most difficult cases.”…

    • 964 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Huxley And Eugenics

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Inspired in large part by the technological advances of the Industrial Revolution, authors such as H.G. Wells and Jules Verne popularized science fiction in the late 19th century. Building off of this relatively new genre, Aldous Huxley published what is widely acknowledged as his greatest work, Brave New World, in 1932. Huxley drew heavily upon the pioneers of science fiction; however, his predictions of the future differed from his predecessors. While earlier authors, specifically Wells, predicted technology would lead to utopian societies, “[i]n at least one letter dating from the period during which he was working on the novel, Huxley openly avowed his aim to expose the ‘horror of the Wellsian Utopia’” (Firchow 1-2).…

    • 1155 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Designer Babies All over the world, scientists are coming up with ways to edit the genes of embryos while they are still in their mother’s womb. Although there can be positive outcomes to this procedure, editing genes can have more negatives. Parents consider this process to enhance the chance of their child not developing a long term illness. Does the child’s mother and father take in the consideration of this dangerous experiment?…

    • 1497 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One source that has been found to cover this topic is a recorded documentary aired on PBS entitled "Test Tube Babies". This documentary includes examples of how doctors and other professionals attempted to complete in vitro fertilization before it was done successfully. An example included in the video was Dr. Landrum Shettles who attempted human egg fertilization in 1973 but was unsuccessful in producing a child from the method (Test Tube Babies). This account and others like it, help to display the struggle that took place within this scientific study until the adequate amount of time, and research had been reached. This documentary is also accompanied by an article, "How Are Babies Made?…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In vitro fertilization (IVF), which scientists make babies artificaly, is one of the popular ways to have babies in U.S. IVF has three simple steps, taking eggs and sperms from general parents, fertilizeing them in test tubes, and replacing the eggs in mother’s utirin. Until people succeed to fertilize, they continue to do the cycle. After these steps, the eggs grown up, and women derivery her babies naturally. Although IVF is helpful for people who have difficulties of natural fertilization, many people criticize it ethically. When I read a book about in vitro fertilization few years ago, I could not believe my eyes.…

    • 1274 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In many cases where couples are unable to conceive after going through extensive fertility treatments resort to In vitro fertilization or the implanting of the embryo to the receiver who is the mother or a surrogate mother. The mother or the receiver goes through controlled “superovulation” techniques to stimulate the ovaries to produce more eggs. When multiple eggs are produced there are multiple chances of having embryos or the fertilized eggs, bringing the possibility…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays