Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • NEWS FEATURE

Human trials of artificial wombs could start soon. Here’s what you need to know

US regulators will consider clinical trials of a system that mimics the womb, which could reduce deaths and disability for babies born extremely preterm.
  1. Max Kozlov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Close-up of a tiny premature baby hand reaching out of an incubator

Care for babies who are born extremely preterm has improved survival significantly, but long-term health problems remain a concern. Credit: Conrad Bornman/Gallo Images/Getty

A hairless, pale-skinned lamb lies on its side in what appears to be an oversized sandwich bag filled with hazy fluid. Its eyes are closed, and its snout and limbs jerk as if the animal — which is only about three-quarters of the way through its gestation period — is dreaming.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 621, 458-460 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-02901-1

References

  1. Partridge, E. A. et al. Nature Commun. 8, 15112 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Crump, C., Winkleby, M. A., Sundquist, J. & Sundquist, K. JAMA 322, 1580–1588 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Flake, A. W., De Bie, F. R., Munson, D. A. & Feudtner, C. J. Perinatol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-023-01716-2 (2023).

  4. Kukora, S. K., Mychaliska, G. B. & Weiss, E. M. J. Perinatol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-023-01713-5 (2023).

  5. McLeod, J. S. et al. J. Pediatr. Surg. 54, 1147–1152 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links