Test Tube Babies – Shark Babies, That Is

nurse sharkIf you are a parent, you know how hard it is to deal with kids when they start squabbling. Nonetheless, it is common in most healthy families – it relieves tensions, and if the family is not completely dysfunctional, these fights between siblings are like summer thunderstorms – dark, furious and quickly pass.

Now, consider the grey nurse shark – one of the few fishes that gives birth to live young. Also known as the “sand tiger,”  the females of this species typically start out with as many as 40 embryos in her uterus when impregnated. During the gestation period, however, these shark pups feed on each other. By the time she delivers, there are usually no more than two pups left (one can only imagine what certain conservative elements in the U.S. would have to say about this if it were as common in humans).

This is causing some real problems for Australian conservationists who are trying to save the endangered species. To solve this dilemma, scientists at Cronulla Fisheries Centre in New South Wales have constructed an artificial uterus, consisting of a one metre (three foot) long test tube. The embryos will be removed from their mother and raised in the tanks, which will be filled with an artificial uterine fluid.

They hope to successfully raise up to forty pups each year.

Via New Scientist

nurse sharkIf you are a parent, you know how hard it is to deal with kids when they start squabbling. Nonetheless, it is common in most healthy families – it relieves tensions, and if the family is not completely dysfunctional, these fights between siblings are like summer thunderstorms – dark, furious and quickly pass.

Now, consider the grey nurse shark – one of the few fishes that gives birth to live young. Also known as the “sand tiger,”  the females of this species typically start out with as many as 40 embryos in her uterus when impregnated. During the gestation period, however, these shark pups feed on each other. By the time she delivers, there are usually no more than two pups left (one can only imagine what certain conservative elements in the U.S. would have to say about this if it were as common in humans).

This is causing some real problems for Australian conservationists who are trying to save the endangered species. To solve this dilemma, scientists at Cronulla Fisheries Centre in New South Wales have constructed an artificial uterus, consisting of a one metre (three foot) long test tube. The embryos will be removed from their mother and raised in the tanks, which will be filled with an artificial uterine fluid.

They hope to successfully raise up to forty pups each year.

Via New Scientist

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