Made in orbit: Babies

Modern methods of reproduction stretch beyond traditional conception. In vitro fertilisation, or IVF, has been used to create human life for more than 50 years. But is it a viable method in space? Preserving reproductive cells and embryos in space certainly comes with technological challenges, but also ethical ones. It also requires a large amount of investment, much like most space-related research and development. This absurd-sounding area of space research is not one that leading organisations like NASA have explored, but it could be crucial for the continuation of human life outside Earth. Egbert Edelbroek, founder of SpaceBorn United, is developing a ‘space-embryo-incubator’ with his team, in an attempt to concur the first stage of conception in orbit…

Egbert - What we need to do is mitigate the two main challenges in space for living organisms, especially embryos: the lack of gravity, which is not healthy for a developing embryo, and radiation. We have a rotating disc, and inside this disc there are initially mammalian gametes to prove that it is all safe. By rotating the disc, these developing embryos will experience Earth-like gravity.

Chris - It’s almost like a sperm centrifuge, spinning around so they’re flung outwards a bit, as though they are being pulled towards the ground, except they’re being pulled to the outside edge of the disc. That’s how you get them to have their feet on the ground, as it were.

Egbert - Exactly. Another benefit is that we can adjust the rotation speed so the embryos experience lower gravity—not microgravity, but the gravity of Mars or the Moon. That way we can also study whether embryo development can safely happen in a Martian environment.

Chris - And does that make a difference? Do these different amounts of gravity affect the way sperm and eggs interact? Have you got enough data yet?

Egbert - No, that is part of our homework. In April this year we had our first technology demonstration in space. Our mini-lab went on a SpaceX rocket launched from Cape Canaveral. The next step will be to have mammalian early embryos inside, and gradually we will transition towards using human gametes and creating human embryos in space. After that, we will start to lower the gravity level to study environments like Martian gravity. That is a few missions ahead. The other issue besides gravity that we need to mitigate is the higher radiation levels above the atmosphere. On the surface of Earth, you are protected by a thick layer of atmosphere and the magnetosphere, the Earth’s magnetic field, but above the atmosphere you have much less radiation protection. So you have to select a specific altitude and inclination for the orbit of our mini-lab where radiation challenges are minimised.

Chris - Are you putting this on little satellites then, or is this going onto space stations where you’re doing these experiments?

Egbert - A shoebox-sized mini-lab is designed to operate inside independent small satellites, about a metre in diameter or even less. They will orbit the Earth and bring the embryos back to the surface. That’s not standard for a satellite—usually it stays in orbit—but in our case we also want the embryos back after a week, so these satellites can perform re-entry manoeuvres.

Chris - Is the idea to almost freeze time, so you let conception happen and then stop it?

Egbert - Indeed. We pause the development stage of the embryo, similar to how it is done on Earth. In IVF clinics, embryos are cryogenically frozen at the blastocyst stage, after six days of development. We will do the same in space, freezing them after six days, to safely send them back to Earth. In IVF clinics they can then be safely thawed and examined.

Chris - And what sorts of questions are you going to be asking of the embryos?

Egbert - There are all these biomarkers and standard IVF examinations to determine whether an embryo is healthy: checking for DNA damage, ensuring morphology is intact, and so on. The embryos will undergo exactly the same examinations to confirm they are completely healthy.

Chris - What sorts of ethical hoops have you had to jump through for this?

Egbert - You cannot just send live material into space without approval from ethical committees. To get approval, we have to clearly explain the scientific benefits of studying live samples in space. That’s the formal perspective, but from a societal perspective it can be very different. It is similar to IVF when it was invented 46 years ago: it met with resistance and took 10 years before being accepted as offering opportunities to couples who could not conceive naturally. Now we are extending this technology into space, introducing new challenges and hazards that we must mitigate, and of course there are legitimate concerns from different perspectives. Fortunately, there are checks and balances.

Chris - Obviously we’ve dwelled so far on the very earliest stages of conception. Pregnancy takes 40 weeks, so is the ultimate goal to take the project further and see what happens if you actually try to grow a baby in space?

Egbert - Yes, absolutely. We chose the name SpaceBorn United as a clear hint towards the very end of the nine-month cycle—childbirth in space. The work we are doing now is in that wider context. About 80–90% of our time and resources go into the first stages because it has to be a step-by-step process, but we are also drafting a multi-decade research roadmap that will eventually enable all of those stages—the whole nine-month cycle in space.

Chris - When do you think we’re going to see the first baby born in space?

Egbert - I think that can happen in 25 to 30 years, depending on a few factors: how it is funded—more funding could accelerate things—and how the global ethical discussion progresses towards safe, feasible childbirth in space.