Doctors Successfully Grow Vaginas In The Lab And Implant Them In Four Women's Bodies
In an incredible feat, four women have had new vaginas grown in the laboratory and implanted by doctors in the US.
By Sadho Ram — 11 Apr 2014, 11:41 PM — Updated over 10 years ago
QUESTION: Has Science Progressed So Far As To Successfully Grow Vaginas In A Lab And Implant Them In Women's Bodies?
The Answer Is A Loud And Proud YES!
Some Eight Years Ago, Doctors At Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center In North Carolina Built And Implanted Vaginas Into Four Women Who Were Teenagers At The Time. Now, All Those Women Have Functioning Vaginas.
The procedure offers hope to women with congenital conditions in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped
Image via newsweek.comA research team at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine, led by Dr. Anthony Atala, said in Lancet that four recipients of lab-grown reproductive organs underwent surgery between June 2005 and October 2008—and that the organs are functioning normally after eight years. The new organs are created by culturing these women’s own cells into tissues and eventually reshaping the tissues into a vagina-like structure.
newsweek.comIn Each Woman The Vagina Did Not Form Properly While They Were Still Inside Their Mother's Womb, A Condition Known As Vaginal Aplasia
Scans of the pelvic region were used to design a tube like 3D-scaffold for each patient
Image via bbcimg.co.ukThe patients, who were between 13 and 18, were all born with Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome (pdf), a rare genetic condition in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent.
Doctors at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Centre in North Carolina used pioneering technology to build vaginas for the four women who were all in their teenage years at the time. Scans of the pelvic region were used to design a tube-like 3D-scaffold for each patient.
theguardian.com
A Small Tissue Biopsy Was Taken From The Poorly Developed Vulva And Grown To Create A Large Batch Of Cells In The Laboratory
Muscle cells were attached to the outside of the scaffold and vaginal-lining cells to the inside. The vaginas were carefully grown in a bioreactor until they were suitable to be surgically implanted into the patients.
newsweek.comThey All Reported Normal Levels Of "Desire, Arousal, Lubrication, Orgasm, Satisfaction" And Painless Intercourse
One of the women with an implanted vagina, who wished to keep her name anonymous, said: "I believe in the beginning when you find out you feel different. I mean while you are living the process, you are seeing the possibilities you have and all the changes you'll go through. Truly I feel very fortunate because I have a normal life, completely normal."
However, There Are Limits To This Research
The team admits that the study, while exciting, is quite small in scale and that the technique needs to be performed more “to compare it with established surgical procedures.”
Anthony Atala From The Wake Forest School Of Medicine Led The Research Using A Technique Developed In The 1990s
This is not the first time Atala’s team has created organs in labs with similar methods. Starting in 1998, an Atala-led team created replacement bladders and implanted them in nine children, making the team “the first in the world to implant laboratory-grown organs in humans.”
newsweek.comThe team has also implanted lab-made urethras into young boys. In February, scientists at the University of Texas Medical Branch created lab-grown lungs, according to reports. In addition, scientists in England are working on making noses, tear ducts and blood cells in a lab, The Associated Press reports.