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When Does Life Begin?

Write down when you think life begins on a piece of paper.

Now, lets go to several deni@ons in a Developmental Biology textbook (college book) and see if you agree with any of the following deni@ons.
Gilbert, S. 2002. DevBio: A Companion to Developmental Biology. Eighth Edi@on: Sinauer Associates.

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When does Life Begin?

The metabolic view: There is no one point when life begins. The sperm cell and egg cell are as alive as any other organism. The gene2c view: A new individual is created at fer@liza@on. This is when the genes from the two parents combine to form an individual with unique proper@es. The embryological view: In humans, iden@cal twinning can occur as late as day 12 pc. Such twinning produces two individuals with dierent lives. Even conjoined ("Siamese") twins can have dierent personali@es. Thus, a single individuality is not xed earlier than day 12. (In religious terms, the two individuals have dierent souls). Some medical texts consider the stages before this @me as "pre- embryonic. (Such a view would allow contracep@on, "morning-aWer" pills, and
contragesta@onal agents, but not abor@on aWer two weeks.)

When does life begin?

The neurological view: Our society has dened death as the loss of the cerebral EEG (electroencephalogram) paYern. Conversely, some scien@sts have thought that the acquisi@on of the human EEG (at about 27 weeks) should be dened as when a human life begins. (This
view and the ones following would allow mid-trimester abor@ons).

The ecological/technological view: This view sees human life as beginning when it can exist separately from its maternal biological environment. The natural limit of viability occurs when the lungs mature, but technological advances can now enable a premature infant to survive at about 25 weeks gesta@on. (This is the view currently opera@ng
in many states. Once a fetus can be poten@ally independent, it cannot be aborted.)

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When does life begin?

The immunological view: This view sees human life as beginning when the organism recognizes the dis@nc@on between self and non-self. In humans, this occurs around the @me of birth. The integrated physiological view: This view sees human life as beginning when an individual has become independent of the mother and has its own func@oning circulatory system, alimentary system, and respiratory system. This is the tradi@onal birthday when the baby is born into the world and the umbilical cord is cut.