# Is there a successful man-made "breathable" liquid? - a synthesized embryonic fluid? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 18, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445 "2001-09-18T19:46:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/1 "2001-09-18T19:46:10Z")
as seen in the movie _Abyss_? A friend and I were discussing the exact point that a baby starts breathing air rather than embryonic fluid after leaving the womb. The discussion progressed to whether or not a synthesized “embryonic fluid” had been made for deep sea diving or whatever application for which it would be necessary. If this fluid has in fact been made, is it still necessary for the body to “breath”, for the diaphragm to expand and contract? ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/2 "2001-09-18T19:59:05Z")
Don’t know if these will specificly answer your question, but some relevant reading (the search button is your friend 🙂 ): [The mouse that breathed underwater](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49254) [Breathing Underwater?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=43136) [Breathe underwater…unaided?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=9285) ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/3 "2001-09-18T20:01:16Z")
Ahem, _specifically_. Oh well, people here love me fo rmy looks, not my spelling. What? They don’t? sheesh. ---
**Author:** ![micco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f8ce5/32.png) [@micco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/micco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/4 "2001-09-18T20:02:28Z")
It has been made, and you still have to breath in order to move the oxygenated liquid through the lungs. I suppose you could make some sort of system that oxygenated blood directly rather than using the lungs, but lungs are pretty good at what they do. [http://www.scienceweb.org/movies/abyss.html](http://www.scienceweb.org/movies/abyss.html) [http://www.fluoros.co.uk/flutec/medical/liq-brth.htm](http://www.fluoros.co.uk/flutec/medical/liq-brth.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/5 "2001-09-18T20:04:57Z")
1. The breathable fluid does exist. Here is a link to the [How Stuff Works"](http://www.howstuffworks.com/question640.htm) article, as well as previous GQ threads: [Breathing liquid (The Abyss)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=71683) [Breathing Underwater?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=43136) [The mouse that breathed underwater](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=49254) 1. The liquid isn’t related to amniotic fluid. A fetus doesn’t get oxygen by breathing- it gets it through the placenta directly into it’s bloodstream. The amnionic fluid is actually largely fetal urine. Arjuna34 ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/6 "2001-09-18T20:05:45Z")
embryonic fluid is not ‘oxygenised’ the baby get’s it’s O2 from the mother via the umbilical cord. there is a freon that can carry enough disolved O2 to allow you to breath it - but do you really want to breath freon? ---
**Author:** ![Arjuna34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Arjuna34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arjuna34)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/7 "2001-09-18T20:07:19Z")
Well, I think we nailed this one! Arjuna34 ---
**Author:** ![Sultan\_Kinkari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7bcc69/32.png) [@Sultan\_Kinkari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sultan_Kinkari)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2001, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-successful-man-made-breathable-liquid-a-synthesized-embryonic-fluid/82445/8 "2001-09-18T20:10:44Z")
Thanks **everyone** for the prompt responses. 🙂