Date of Resource: April 10th, 2014’
Title of Article: Lab-Grown Vaginas Implanted in 4 Girls
Author: Bahar Gholipour
Article Synopsis:
Researchers have grown vaginas in a lab, and the organs are working normally in four teenage patients who were among the first people to receive such an implant. All of the patients in the study underwent surgery five to eight years ago because they were born with a rare genetic condition in which the vagina and uterus are underdeveloped or absent. The girls had a congenital deformation called Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) syndrome, which affects between one in 1,500 and one in 4,000 female infants. So scientists grew each vagina from the patient's own cells, and then implanted it in her body when the girls were between 13 and 18 years of age. The researchers took a small piece of vulvar tissue, less than half the size of a postage stamp, from each patient, and then allowed the cells to multiply in lab dishes. The vagina is made up of two major layers with two cell types: muscle cells and vaginal epithelial cells. To build these layers, the researchers placed one cell type on one face of a scaffold, made of a fabriclike material, and placed the other cell type on the other face of the scaffold. "We were able to shape the scaffold specifically for each patient, and place this device with the cells in a bioreactor (an ovenlike device and has the same conditions as the human body) for about a week, until it was slightly more mature," Dr. Anthony Atala, director of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center's Institute for Regenerative Medicine said. Once the organs were ready, doctors surgically created a cavity in the patients' bodies, and stitched one side of the vaginal organ to the opening of the cavity and the other side to the uterus. "The whole process takes about five to six weeks, from the time we take the tissue from the patient to the time we actually plant the engineered construct back into the patient." Although this is a small pilot study, the results show that vaginal organs can be constructed in the lab and used successfully in people. Researchers followed up with the patients every year for five to eight years, and examined the organs using X-rays and biopsies to check their structure. Patients reported on the organs' sexual function. Data from these yearly follow-up visits show that up to eight years after the surgeries, the organs had normal function, including normal sexual functions, such as desire and pain-free intercourse.
Practical or Personal Application:
I feel like this study was a very interesting and long process, and the results came out very nicely.
Statement of What You Learned:
I learned that lab grown vaginas could still function in sexual activity.