The Idea of Ectogenesis in Daedalus; or Science and The Future (1924), by John Burdon Sanderson Haldane

In 1924, John Burdon Sanderson Haldane, aka JBS Haldane, published Daedalus; or Science and The Future, hereafter Daedalus, which was a written version of a lecture that he gave in 1923. In his book, Haldane offers his personal predictions about what science will be able to achieve by the year 2073. He proposes that scientists will be able to perform ectogenesis, which he defines as the gestation of an organism in an artificial environment. He argues that the development of ectogenesis will help improve the human species by facilitating the selective breeding of individuals with desirable traits. Haldane‚'s vision of ectogenesis in Daedalus foreshadowed in vitro fertilization, or IVF, an assisted-reproductive technology in which scientists fertilize an egg in a laboratory dish, then implant the resulting embryo into a woman‚'s uterus where it then develops into a fetus. As of 2025, physicians deliver over 500,000 infants per year who were conceived using assisted-reproductive technologies such as IVF. Haldane‚'s concept of ectogenesis as he described it in Daedalus inspired both supportive and critical responses among readers and has shaped discussions about reproductive technologies down to the present day.