Embryo space colonization
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Embryo space colonization is an interstellar space colonization proposal that involves sending a robotic mission to a terrestrial planet (having a biosphere) transporting frozen early-stage embryos. The concept circumvents the problem of freezing fully developed humans (which is not technologically feasible today and is regarded by many scientists as never feasible; see cryonics) for the hundreds or thousands of years required for interstellar journeys. Instead, it would use currently available technology to preserve viable human embryos in a frozen state.
Upon arrival at the target planet, fully robots would build the first settlement on the planet and start growing crops. Thereafter the first embryos could be unfrozen and would develop in artificial wombs. In contrast to a generation ship, an Embryo-carrying Interstellar Starship (EIS) would have feasible small dimensions in the range of today's spaceships.
Major obstacles that the plan faces are the development of fully autonomous robots, artificial wombs, and computer hardware that can function reliably over long periods of time. Furthermore, a propulsion system would be required that could accelerate the EIS to around one percent of light speed and slow it down again upon nearing the destination. Finally, the proposal depends on the existence of an exoplanet qualifying for colonization within a few hundred light years of Earth.
Beside these technical problems, ethical concerns might arise regarding the risk to the settlers' potential quality of life, especially given the number of embryos needed to colonize another planet. It is highly unlikely that the babies born would develop into culturally normal humans in the hands of robots, even with information about the cultures of Earth. The settlers would probably develop a distinct colony culture and society distinctly different from Earth human norms.
A theoretical extension of the EIS, utilizing nanotechnology, could eliminate many of the storage and safety issues in transporting embryos, at the cost of adding another major technological barrier to the production of an EIS. Instead of storing embryos, nano-replication of a (possibly simplified) fertilized ovum may be created at the target site, from raw materials either transported, or located on the target exoplanet. This is, of course, a non-trivial problem in molecular manufacturing, or replication. The genetic makeup of such a reconstructed cell might easily be altered with each one created. As the genome of an individual human requires only about 750 megabytes of information storage, hundreds, even thousands, of genetically distinct individuals (even more, if sets of chromosomes are "shuffled" in computer memory before replication - simulating one aspect of the genetic shuffle of sexual reproduction) could be stored without having to store fragile biological tissues.
Such an "inorganic" EIS would be carrying "cargo" that would require much less specialized care, and be much easier to repair if damaged ( see error correction and detection) - information.
A further advancement of this idea introduces the possibility of such EIS starships being created as Von Neumann probes. However, this idea is well beyond plausible, short-term projections of current technology.
Examples in fiction
- James P. Hogan's novel Voyage from Yesteryear features a planet that was colonized many generations ago by an automated ship bearing frozen embryos, and is now being visited by a more advanced interstellar spacecraft capable of carrying an adult crew.
- Jack Williamson's Manseed has as a protagonist one of the robots responsible for protecting and assisting colonists created on a new planet by an automated "seedship", though in this case the colonists are "born" as full adults and with implanted knowledge recorded from preexisting humans via mind transfer technology.
- In Yukinobu Hoshino's 2001 Nights manga, "Night 4" showcases an interstellar mission where an automated ship bearing frozen embryos is launched with the help of a comet. Two latter chapters, or "Nights," in the series explore what happens to the mission after it touches down on the surface of the destination world.
- In David Brin's The River of Time (1986), the short story "Lungfish" - which prominently features Von Neumann probes - mentions a class of probe called Seeders which seem to be a type of self-replicating EIS. The complete [text of the story] has been placed on the [authors website].
- In Arthur C. Clarke's The Songs of Distant Earth habitable planets throughout the galaxy are colonized by seedships following the destruction of Earth. As technology advances the mantle of colonization is then taken up by sleeper ships.
See also
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