Reproductive technology

Reproductive technology

Reproductive technology is a term for all current and anticipated uses of technology in human and animal reproduction, including:

cloning (see human cloning for the special case of human beings)
artificial wombs
genetic engineering
artificial insemination
embryo transfer
in vitro fertilization
- intracytoplasmic sperm injection
hormone treatment to increase fertility
sperm filtration
embryo testing

Assisted reproduction is sometimes used as a term for fertility treatment using reproductive technology.

Contraception may also be viewed as a form of reproductive technology, as it enables people to control their fertility.

Many issues of reproductive technology have led to ethical issues being raised, since it often alters the assumptions that lie behind existing systems of sexual and reproductive morality.

Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World was one of the earliest works to anticipate the social consequences of reproductive technology.