MIT Technology Review Narrated: Inside the strange limbo facing millions of IVF embryos
Millions of embryos created through IVF sit frozen in time, stored in tanks around the world. The number is only growing thanks to advances in technology, the rising popularity of IVF, and improvements in its success rates.
At a basic level, an embryo is simply a tiny ball of a hundred or so cells. But unlike other types of body tissue, it holds the potential for life. Many argue that this endows embryos with a special moral status, one that requires special protections.
The problem is that no one can really agree on what that status is. While these embryos persist in suspended animation, patients, clinicians, embryologists, and legislators must grapple with the essential question of what we should do with them. What do these embryos mean to us? Who should be responsible for them?
This is our latest story to be turned into a MIT Technology Review Narrated podcast, which we’re publishing each week on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Just navigate to MIT Technology Review Narrated on either platform, and follow us to get all our new content as it’s released.
The must-reads
I’ve combed the internet to find you today’s most fun/important/scary/fascinating stories about technology.
1 ChatGPT will start talking dirty to verified adults
The chatbot is getting a new erotica function as part of OpenAI’s bid to “safely relax” its restrictions. (The Verge)
+ The company has created its own wellness council to inform its decisions. (Ars Technica)
+ It’s surprisingly easy to stumble into a relationship with an AI chatbot. (MIT Technology Review)
2 A secret surveillance empire tracked thousands of people across the world
The European-led First Wap has operated covertly for more than two decades. (Mother Jones)
+ The group ran at least 10 scam compounds across the country. (Wired $)
+ Inside a romance scam compound—and how people get tricked into being there. (MIT Technology Review)