We’ve heard of artificial wombs, but what about artificial eggs? That’s being taken care of.
“Scientists have managed to hatch live chicks from a fully artificial egg – marking a de-extinction breakthrough that paves the way for resurrecting long-dead species.
“Experts at Colossal Biosciences, the company planning to bring back the woolly mammoth, have created the first ever shell-less incubation system that mirrors a natural egg ‘as much as possible’.
“The team were able to take early bird embryos, place them into an artificial shell and incubate them for 18 days while they developed.
“Once the chicks were ready, they hatched from their cosy home and are now living happy, healthy lives.”
More interestingly, they transferred an embryo to an artificial egg, with great success.
“An embryology team thoroughly examined each egg and selected the embryos that looked most likely to hatch.
“They then cracked the egg open very gently and transferred the contents into the artificial egg, which was then placed in an incubator.
“Scientists ‘sprinkled’ in a nutrient that helped the embryo continue to develop. Roughly 18 days later the chick started tapping against the egg to indicate it was ready to hatch.
“After hatching, all chicks were put in groups and eventually moved to a ‘graduation pen’ outside before being relocated to a large farm.”
Obviously, this leads to one clear outcome: Genetically engineered birb girls!
A little mood music:
