3-D Printed Ovaries Produce Healthy Offspring

Reporter: Irina Robu, PhD

Each year about 120,000 organs are transplanted from one human being to another and most of the time is a living volunteer. But lack of suitable donors, predominantly means the supply of such organs is inadequate. Countless people consequently die waiting for a transplant which has led researchers to study the question of how to build organs from scratch.

One promising approach is to print them, but “bioprinting” remains largely experimental. Nevertheless, bioprinted tissue is before now being sold for drug testing, and the first transplantable tissues are anticipated to be ready for use in a few years’ time. The first 3D printed organ includes bioprosthetic ovaries which are constructed of 3D printed scaffolds that have immature eggs and have been successful in boosting hormone production and restoring fertility was developed by Teresa K. Woodruff, a reproductive scientist and director of the Women’s Health Research Institute at Feinberg School of Medicine, at Northwestern University, in Illinois.

What sets apart these bioprosthetic ovaries is the architecture of the scaffold. The material is made of gelatin made from broken-down collagen that is safe to humans which is self-supporting and can lead to building multiple layers.

The 3-D printed “scaffold” or “skeleton” is implanted into a female and its pores can be used to optimize how follicles, or immature eggs, get wedged within the scaffold. The scaffold supports the survival of the mouse’s immature egg cells and the cells that produce hormones to boost production. The open construction permits room for the egg cells to mature and ovulate, blood vessels to form within the implant enabling the hormones to circulate and trigger lactation after giving birth. The purpose of this scaffold is to recapitulate how an ovary would function.
The scientists’ only objective for developing the bioprosthetic ovaries was to help reestablish fertility and hormone production in women who have suffered adult cancer treatments and now have bigger risks of infertility and hormone-based developmental issues.

SOURCES

Printed human body parts could soon be available for transplant
https://www.economist.com/news/science-and-technology/21715638-how-build-organs-scratch

3D printed ovaries produce healthy offspring giving hope to infertile women

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2017/05/16/3d-printed-ovaries-produce-healthy-offspring-giving-hope-infertile/

Brave new world: 3D-printed ovaries produce healthy offspring

http://www.naturalnews.com/2017-05-27-brave-new-world-3-d-printed-ovaries-produce-healthy-offspring.html

3-D-printed scaffolds restore ovary function in infertile mice

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317485.php

Our Grandkids May Be Born From 3D-Printed Ovaries

http://gizmodo.com/these-mice-gave-birth-using-3d-printed-ovaries-1795237820