Who’s Your Mama?!
While most of us don’t remember much of anything about our 9 months in the uterus, you would probably be just a little freaked out if you found out that those 9 months weren’t spent in a uterus at all… but in a man-made artificial uterus with several scientists devoted to bringing you to full term.
This is exactly what happened to 6 lucky grey nurse sharks.
The grey nurse shark or sand tiger shark, as it is also known, is one of Australia’s most endangered marine species and is considered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature to be under threat of endangerment on a worldwide basis. How could this be? Weighing in at over 200 pounds and reaching over 11 feet, the grey nurse shark is a powerful beast, one you wouldn’t expect of being vulnerable to predators.
Grey Nurse Shark. Photo by Richard Ling
However, they are… and that predator is man. Despite their rather intimidating appearance, they are completely harmless to humans unless provoked; yet humans have been killing the sharks for decades. Most of the time the deaths are accidents as the sharks are caught in commercial and recreational fishing equipment. But several of the deaths are intentional as the sharks are considered a delicacy in Japan.
To make matters even worse for the shark, they are only capable of producing two pups per year. The mother shark actually starts her pregnancy with about forty fertilized embryos separated in two separate uteri, but as they mature, the embryos undergo adelphophagy where they attack and eat one another. Eventually, only the two toughest embryos are left to mature. Talk about sibling rivalry!
Video posted by youtube user Megabeeach.
Scientists Nick Otway and Megan Ellis think they have found a way to prevent this.
In a lab at the Port Stephens Fisheries Institute, in New South Wales of Australia, these scientists have made an artificial uterus, which is basically a very complex aquarium.
From a euthanized pregnant female, 6 embryos were extracted and all six were brought to full-term in this artificial uterus. The pups were born to a length of about three feet, an average size for a grey nurse shark pup. After only three months, they were released into the wild.
Whether or not they will suffer a mommy complex has yet to be seen but already, we can conclude these results are amazing.
If we can figure out a way to keep the mother alive, we have the potential to save an endangered species by literally tripling its birthing capacity. Furthermore, if we can extract the embryos even earlier on, we could do a lot more than just tripling it.
Pregnancy, Image from Microsoft Word 2000
Now, this brings up an interesting thought for the future of the human race…
Will the exhausting task of carrying a baby for nine months become an event of the past? Will you and your partner simply drop off your eggs and sperm at a lab and a few months later, pick up our baby without ever gaining a pound?
Certainly, this won’t be happening any time soon but it is definitely interesting to think about in a society where convenience is king.
Works Cited
Froese, Rainer, & Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). Carcharias taurus. Fish Base 09 2005 version. Retrieved from http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Carcharias-taurus.html.
Otway, N. & Ellis, M. (2011). Construction and test of an artificial uterus for ex situ development of shark embryos. Zoo Biology. doi: 10.1002/zoo.20422
Pollard, D. & Smith, A. (2005). Carcharias taurus. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Version 2011.1. Retrieved from www.iucnredlist.org.
Venton, D. (2011, September 29) Baby Sharks Birthed in Artificial Uterus. Weird Science Retrieved from http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/09/artificial-shark-uterus/
October 2nd, 2011 at 9:40 pm
This is something lots of women would interested in!
October 3rd, 2011 at 2:04 pm
That video was gruesome. Its interesting how they engage in adelphophagy right in the womb! That is an extreme example of survival of the fittest.
October 3rd, 2011 at 8:16 pm
It’s crazy that the embryos eat each other. Though I wonder what genetic factors could determine which embryo is the strongest, or is it just a matter of which embryo matured the quickest.
October 3rd, 2011 at 9:27 pm
That video was mind blowing, it was crazy to see the embryos acting as mini predators inside the womb. It seems interesting that these sharks have evolved this way (with both mother and embryo working together) to produce one extremely fit progeny!