From Artificial Wombs to Human Clones

untitled image, By René Porter, Source Unsplash; Words added by Author.

Rosella Tolfree’s World and
How Humanity Adopts Machine Based Reproduction

In Rosella Tolfree’s world, humanity has overall transitioned from biological reproduction to that of using machines. Many people rely on the use of A-4 androids with built in cloning technology and artificial wombs to reproduce.

While today advances in 3D and even 4D printing continue, the application into medical use is only starting.

How Society Turns to Machines for Reproduction

It all starts with the increased use of molecular 3-D printing and vaccine production. Pharmaceuticals used this technology to revolutionize the speed and production output of many common vaccines and dealing with novel pandemics.

One unfortunate accident was with the HPV vaccine used to inoculate children against this cancer-causing disease. Unlike the current HPV vaccine which tricks the body’s immune system with proteins to make antibodies, this future 3-D printed vaccine had replicated a dead version of the human papillomavirus. This newer HPV vaccine was scientifically hailed as superior to the previous antibody version in providing protection. Thus, it was adopted by many government health organizations globally.

The problem was it had genetic flaws that went undetected for nearly 40 years. These flaws weren’t discovered until a generation of people tried to have children only to discover that they were infertile. After much scientific study, scientists discovered that the genetic flaws produced a mutated viral strain that became activated in the gonads (testes and ovaries) that over time caused benign but sterilizing cysts.

This is when many people turned to the advances in assisted reproductive technology (ART) resulting in artificial wombs and cloning. Advance ART had overcome many technological challenges thanks to their application in agriculture for mass production of large livestock such as cattle, pigs, and lambs.

This is also when you see laws relaxed concerning human cloning on a global scale, with limitations on what could and could not be done genetically. For example, the manufacturing of human-animal hybrids was still illegal in many nations.

How It All Worked

In the beginning people relied on clinics for having their children produced. The couple provided blood samples to the clinic. The two sets of DNAs were filtered, selected, and recombined within legal limitations. A zygote was 3D printed and then left to mature for the standard nine months in the artificial womb tanks. This produced a eukaryotic clone. Asexual clones were those produced from only one set of un-recombined DNA and were less common.

Men in Space, Women on Earth

As android technology advanced and it reached the point of the A-4 model, an odd population disparity had occurred. There were more men off Earth than on Earth. It’s not like there were no human women in space (because there were), it’s just the sex ratio had become more polarized with men more in space and women more on Earth. It was one of the great sociological phenomena to occur that was even studied when Rosella Tolfree was alive. As a result, the A-4 androids were initially used for human reproduction on Mars before becoming adopted by Earth societies.

These androids afforded couples far more flexibility than the old clinic method and provided built in child rearing services. Some governments even provided financial incentives to lease these human cloning androids.

By Rosella’s birth, people had reshaped societies into using A-4 androids for human reproduction.