Our world has been in almost never-ending conflict. For the past 3,400 years, humans have been at peace for only 268. We killed 108 million of our own in the 20th century alone, and the estimates for the rest vary wildly from 150 million to a staggering 1 billion.
We may have amassed great knowledge over the centuries, but hatred for our fellow humans remains on the same primal level it has been since we first walked the Earth. Then there’s pollution and global warming that raise concerns over sustainability of our way of life. Whether it’s purely cyclical, or human-induced (or, most likely, both), many bad things await us as atmospheric temperatures slowly rise and ice caps melt.
And what about comets? Our solar system is full of chunks of rock larger than a few miles in diameter that could destroy all life on our planet. A 10-mile comet or asteroid that struck the Yukon peninsula in Mexico 65 million years ago is thought to have wiped out most of the dinosaurs, so if a 60-mile comet hits us, it is unlikely that anything would survive.
Reproduction in space
Reading this makes it easy to understand why some people want to leave Earth altogether. Others want to build shelters deep underground. Then there’s SpaceLife Origin — a San Francisco-based biotechnology company determined to enable sustainable human life beyond Earth. However, this isn’t yet another SpaceX clone or Blue Origin competitor. The company’s goal is to help humans reproduce beyond the confines of our planet. SpaceLife Origin’s mission statement mentions year 2024 as an important milestone: the year when the first human baby will be born in space. To achieve this lofty goal, the company has set up three separate missions:
1. Mission Ark — by 2020
Ark is a spherical container designed to hold and preserve unfertilized human reproductive cells. These will be stored on Earth and on a satellite in space. The company claims Ark will provide a safe environment, shielded from radiation, for “decades.” This will ensure that in case of a catastrophe, humanity has a stash of genetic material ready for utilization. But this is just the beginning.
2. Mission Lotus — by 2021
SpaceLife Origin’s proprietary “Space-Embryo-Incubator” will send male and female reproductive cells to space, where fertilization will occur. After four days, the incubator will return to Earth and actual gestation and births will occur on the planet.
3. Mission Cradle — by 2024
A very brave woman and a daring medical team will embark on a 24- to 36-hour mission that will result in the actual birth of a human baby in space — 250 miles above the Earth. SpaceLife Origin claims that “[a] carefully prepared and monitored process will reduce all possible risks, similar to Western standards as they exist on Earth, for both mother and a child.”
Achieving those goals will enable the company to closely cooperate with other space-oriented companies, providing the framework and technology for long-term sustainability of human life beyond Earth.
The potential for this technology is far-reaching: Decades into the future, along with space colonists, people could send fertilized eggs in artificial wombs that would gestate during the journey, ready to replenish the population of a Mars colony or another planet that we’ve inhabited. Or fertilization could occur once they land. This means that instead of sending only a few astronauts, we’d also be sending hundreds of potential new colonists.
Resetting life on Earth
The same could be done to “reset” life on Earth: reproductive cells would be stored in secure underground bunkers, where fertilization could be “triggered” after a cataclysmic event. Fertilized eggs would mature and develop in artificial wombs, ensuring the survival of a human population that could, in time, re-inhabit the world, once the hazard subsides.
While this all seems amazing, and their efforts are admirable and seem almost necessary, there are a few problems.
First, every experiment is subject to a possible failure, and in case of unborn children, the failure results in the loss of human life. One could argue that the same happens with astronauts, but, unlike fetuses, these people willingly accepted the risk. Then, there is IVF fertilization, which raises other ethical concerns, depending on the method utilized (i.e. selective pregnancy reduction). Finally, giving birth in outer space introduces a new set of health risks for both a woman and her child, as well as medical experts on board, ranging from space hazards to equipment failure. While in the face of global annihilation many of these risks can be acceptable, right now I find it hard to justify any but the first milestone set before SpaceLife Origin.
However, my objections won’t carry weight on the progress of the company’s mission. I can only hope that if its work gains purchase, these risks will be minimized to a universally acceptable level, and that its research will indeed one day help human life flourish among the stars.
