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Updated: Apr 18, 2026

Ex Utero Culture of Mouse Embryos from Pregastrulation to Advanced Organogenesis
Published on: October 19, 2021
Construction vs. development: polarizing models of human gestation
Abstract:
This essay argues that the polarization of our public debate over embryo-destructive research may be due, to a large extent, not to different valuations of individual human life but to different conceptions of the process of gestation, with one group treating the process as a making or construction and the other treating it as a development. These two incompatible models of reproduction are shown to explain the various positions commonly encountered in this debate over the treatment of embryos, and to a significant degree those encountered in the debate over abortion as well. Finally, the historical, theoretical, and intuitive strengths of each model are examined.
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