Seminar: Brave New worlds: The impact of art on ART from Dr Gillian Lockwood

Chaired by Katrien Devolder.

Many authors have been fascinated by the possibility of manipulating human reproduction to serve benign or nefarious social and political ends. Modern dystopian novels revolve around flawed or failing fertility.
Since 1978, the birth year of the world’s first ‘test tube’ baby, the science of ART (Assisted Reproductive Technology) has accelerated at bewildering pace and what were once moral dilemmas restricted to science fiction writers and medical ethicists now have everyday implications for the researchers, clinicians and embryologists who work in ART clinics and labs.
In this seminar I want to examine the current situation in ART as seen through the lens of literature.