How Tech Is Breaking the Rules of Biology | Posthuman with Emily Chang

Creating Life in the Lab

• Life is finite and organic, but new technologies are transforming the way humans come into the world and depart it, defying the laws of reproduction and offering the possibility of digital eternity (17s).
• New ways of creating life are moving baby-making into the lab, and technologies like IVF and IVG (in-vitro gametogenesis) are expanding the paths to parenthood (30s).
• IVG has created possibilities far beyond what IVF offered, including the possibility to turn any cell in the body into a sperm or egg (1m20s).
• Shinya Yamanake developed the technology of IVG, which allows for the transformation of a skin cell into a sperm or egg cell (1m35s).
• Development is now dynamic, and it's possible to take normal cells and revert them back to a stem cell, allowing for a new path to become reproductive cells (1m56s).
• Stem cells are like blank pages that can be rewritten, and in the case of IVG, they take a new path to become reproductive cells (2m18s).
• Infertility affects 12 to 17% of the population, and IVG could be an option for those who don't make their own gametes to have a baby that's biologically related to them (2m47s).
• In-vitro gametogenesis is a science fiction-like technology that could become achievable using human cells, and it's reasonable to predict that it can be achieved (3m26s).
• Technologies like IVG create uncertainty and raise questions about what it means to be infertile, and the foundations of ethical debate are getting shaky (3m38s).
• If IVG becomes viable in humans, it could pave the way for a future where infertile couples could have children with their own DNA, older women could conceive, and same-sex couples could have a child related to both parents (3m54s).

IVG and the Future of Reproduction

• The technology also raises the possibility of a person having a baby with themselves, no partner or sperm or egg donor necessary, and challenges traditional notions of fertility and reproduction (4m12s).
• There have been cases in the US about people proposing to remove sperm from people who are brain dead, raising questions about post-mortem or after-death reproduction (4m52s).
• The possibility of having babies developed entirely in a lab raises new questions about their identity and relationships, such as whether they are someone's child, sister, or brother (5m16s).

Artificial Wombs and Ex-Vivo Gestation

• The concept of a womb is no longer clear-cut, and artificial womb-like environments are being developed to support technologies like IVG (in vitro gametogenesis), which involves creating sperm or eggs in a lab (5m36s).
• Artificial womb technology is currently being developed to help premature infants survive, but it could also potentially be used to grow lab-made embryos from IVG outside the human body (6m14s).
• The goal of this research is to recreate the conditions of a maternal womb to help premature babies survive and thrive (6m36s).
• The idea of an artificial placenta has been around since the 1960s, but recent advancements have brought it closer to clinical translation, with Children's Hospital Philadelphia working with the FDA to begin a clinical trial (6m56s).
• While it may be possible to grow an embryo to a fetus to a live-born baby completely outside the womb, it's still uncertain and may not be possible (7m36s).
• The development of artificial womb technology is not a coordinated effort, but rather the result of different teams working on different aspects of the technology (8m12s).
• The possibility of ex-vivo gestation, or growing a baby outside the body, raises questions about the identity and relationships of children born through this method (8m31s).

AI and Virtual Twins in Healthcare

• Technology, including AI, may cure infertility and bring new possibilities for human reproduction, but it will also have far-reaching impacts on human life and healthcare (8m52s).
• AI has the potential to greatly improve healthcare, particularly in diagnosis, and may soon be able to provide more accurate diagnoses than human doctors (9m4s).
• The use of AI in healthcare could also involve the creation of digital copies of human bodies, or "virtual twins," to aid in diagnosis and treatment (10m1s).
• A virtual twin is a digital replica of a physical object or system, built using the same laws of nature that govern the original, allowing for simulation and testing of its behavior (10m3s).
• The concept of virtual twins is being applied to the human body, particularly in pediatric medicine, to help treat rare diseases such as congenital heart defects, where there is limited data available (10m36s).
• Virtual twins of patients can be programmed with their medical history, response to medication, and unique organ shape and condition, enabling personalized medicine and reducing guesswork (11m10s).
• This technology is on the cusp of revolutionizing medicine, allowing for testing of treatments on virtual twins before applying them to real patients, ensuring better outcomes (11m27s).
• Steve, a pioneer in this field, began working on a virtual model of the heart after his daughter Jesse was born with a rare congenital heart defect (11m43s).
• Jesse's condition inspired Steve to develop the Living Heart project, which aimed to create a fully functional virtual twin of the heart (12m50s).
• The Living Heart project was successful, and the technology has the potential to simulate thousands of cases, allowing for personalized treatment without putting patients in harm's way (13m3s).
• Steve's own life was saved by this technology when a tumor was discovered in his head, and his surgeon was able to use similar technology to plan a non-invasive treatment (13m32s).
• The tumor's location in the cavernous sinus, which carries delicate nerves, required precise planning to avoid damage, and the virtual twin technology enabled the surgeon to do so (14m23s).
• A virtual twin technology was used to save a person's life by allowing doctors to practice and perfect a tumor removal surgery, and later the same person's life was saved again with the help of their daughter who had also been saved by the same technology (14m40s).
• The medical field is slow to adopt new technologies, and the modernization of the medical system takes time, but if people demand better, doctors will be more likely to adopt new technologies (15m22s).
• The concept of virtual twins could revolutionize healthcare by allowing people to capture all the knowledge about their bodies and use it to make informed decisions about their health, effectively turning doctors into consultants (15m50s).

Digital Immortality and AI Chronicles

• Virtual twins could potentially store every bit of data about a person's body and life experiences, raising the possibility of achieving immortality through avatars that know us better than we know ourselves (16m25s).
• However, true immortality may not be possible for humans, as they are analog systems that cannot be precisely replicated, but digital systems like chatbots can be immortal (17m12s).
• A group of computer scientists is working on creating AI versions of people that can live on after they pass away by gathering and training on large amounts of data about their lives (17m44s).
• These AI versions, called chronicles, can evolve and continue to interact with others even after the person's physical death, and can be used as a storytelling machine or a way for scientists and politicians to share their knowledge after they're gone (18m6s).
• The possibility of interacting with AI loved ones raises questions about what we would talk to them about, such as seeking advice or having conversations (18m39s).
• A digital representation of a person, such as a parent, can be created to allow people to interact with it, ask questions, and share stories, even after the person has passed away, using a technique called graph-based learning to fill in gaps in conversations (19m3s).
• This digital representation captures data from interactions, with the user's permission, to represent their behavioral, cognitive, interactive, and discussion patterns, allowing it to preserve memories, personality, and perspective (19m53s).
• The digital representation can tell stories, share wisdom, and provide advice, but raises concerns about misuse, abuse, and ownership of the data, particularly after the person has passed away (20m14s).
• The contract and legality of using this data to create a synthetic identity are being explored, with a focus on privacy laws and who has access to the data (20m31s).

The Metaverse and Digital Legacy

• The future of the internet may involve a metaverse where digital avatars interact, allowing people to access a comprehensive knowledge base and creating a digital legacy or eternity (20m51s).
• This digital representation can be seen as a digital twin or a posthuman version of oneself, raising questions about what it means to be human and how technology is redefining life (22m16s).
• Advances in technology may also allow for the creation of a baby from any cell in the body, enabling people to have children with themselves, someone older or younger, or someone who has passed away, raising questions about the implications and ethics of such technology (22m39s).

Ethical Concerns and the Future of Reproduction

• The concept of creating life by human hands, as seen in novels like Frankenstein, raises concerns about the dangers of playing with life and the potential risks of emerging technologies (23m24s).
• The idea of making designer babies through technology is seen as a potential solution for people with fertility issues, but it also raises concerns about the possibility of abuse and its connection to eugenics (23m40s).
• The possibility of bringing a loved one back as a digital avatar raises questions about whether it would still be the same person, and whether it would be healthy to recreate someone through technology rather than coping with their loss (24m2s).
• The idea of recreating a loved one through technology is seen as potentially hurtful and unhealthy, as it would not be the same person and would not allow for a natural process of grieving and coping with loss (24m33s).
• The concept of death as a natural part of life is emphasized, and the importance of dealing with it on its own terms rather than trying to use technology to recreate or replace loved ones is highlighted (24m45s).