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Episode details

Radio 4,13 Nov 2024,42 mins

SeriesSeries 31

The Science of Baby Making

The Infinite Monkey Cage

Available for over a year

Brian Cox and Robin Ince investigate the science of baby making - don’t worry, all theory, no practice! They are joined by Professor Joyce Harper, Dr Ben Steventon and comedian Sara Pascoe to discuss how just two cells can turn into trillions, or in other words, how an embryo can turn into an embryologist. The embryo-building processes across species are remarkably similar, yet there is still so much we don’t know about the beginning of life. Our panel discuss these unknowns, the latest in fertility treatments and what new capabilities might be available to future parents. It seems that artificial wombs may not be science fiction for much longer and scientists are closing in on being able to make egg and sperm cells out of stem cells. So yes, Brian and Robin could one day have a baby! Producer: Melanie Brown Executive Producer: Alexandra Feachem Researcher: Olivia Jani BBC Studios Audio Production

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