Research into developing an artificial ovary began in 2010. Initially it was developed to restore fertility for chemotherapy or other treatments. But the research has grown to expand who can get this power of life put back into them.
The first prototype can keep a human egg that produces follicles, alive outside a woman's body. This can also be used to delay the menopausal process as women age.
Cancer treatment makes the ovaries and follicles vulnerable. Some woman can opt for removal and freezing prior to treatment. This can be risky due to reintroducing cancer cells that were already there before treatment. Making a new ovary could solve this issue.
Christiani Amorim at the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium has worked with a team to do this. They made a bundle from fibrin, the tough protein that forms blood clots, and put donated follicles inside. Testing of these packages inside mice showed the same survival rate of follicles from frozen ovarian transplants. With the upside of no cancer being reintroduced.
Eggs can also be regrown in vitro from the germ cells to fully generate grown mouse oocytes. Mice born from these in vitro created eggs went on to reproduce as normal. Yuji Hirao, of the Institute of Livestock and Grassland Science in Tsukuba hopes to understand why the egg precursor cells die off in those ovaries under treatment, and keep them alive to sustain fertility.
This technology could benefit society when women put off having children for a career or other reasons. Postponing can be more of an option with less risk of infertility. This is not about prolonging youth, but more delaying the onset of menopausal health issues.
Another medical condition that affects fertility, is endometriosis. This technology can help as 10% of woman are affected by this. Surgery to remove the cysts from this condition results in the loss of follicles, which this procedure can correct to boost fertility.
Human trials are not there yet. Trials in mice are beginning for the artificial ovaries to see if they can make healthy eggs. Whether this is actually even more effective than frozen ovary transplants, has yet to be determined.
I wonder if this is getting us too close to Gattaca style futuristic scenarios? Where the naturally born is seen as inferior, while the artificially grown and genetically modified are the only ones who can get good quality jobs in society...
[References: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]
@krnel
2016-11-19, 7:07pm