Giving fresh hope to women who are unable to have children, scientists have developed the world's first artificial ovary which is capable of maturing human eggs as effective as a real one.
Researchers at Brown University, who created the ovary in a laboratory from cells
donated by hospital patients, said it can mimic a real ovary by growing over the eggs
and allowing them to mature.
The breakthrough, the researchers said, could help cancer sufferers who become
infertile from chemotherapy or other treatments which damage the reproductive system.
This could allow eggs to be taken from women before they were exposed to
chemotherapy or radiation and then developed in the artificial structure, the Telegraph
reported.
Sandra Carson, professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Brown University, said
the artificial organs could also be used to help discover why some women find it difficult to conceive.
For the research, the scientists grew the donor cells into honeycomb shapes before
placing human egg cells in the holes.
Within days the cells had enveloped the immature eggs and they were able to grow to
full maturity, the point at which they would be released into the womb to be fertilised.
Detailing their study in the Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics, Professor
Carson wrote: "An ovary is composed of three main cell types, and this is the first time
that anyone has created a 3-D tissue structure with triple cell line.
"This is really very, very new and is the first success in using 3-D tissue engineering
principles."
Professor Richard Fleming, director of the GCRM fertility unit in Glasgow, said the
development could have "great practical implications" on fertility treatment by maturing eggs more reliably.
He said: "It is a significant step along a long pathway but really quite an important one.
"If you try to mature eggs in a Petri dish the structure tends to collapse rather than
sticking to itself. This is trying to improve the proportion of the immature eggs that get
through to the mature stage."
But other experts said the new development did not yet represent a "real artificial ovary" because it did not contain primordial follicles, which develop eggs in real ovaries.
Professor Bill Ledger, a fertility expert from Sheffield University, said: "We have no idea why a primordial follicle will rest for 30 years or more then decide to begin to develop and eventually release its egg.
"If we did, then we could try to lengthen a woman's fertile lifespan or restore fertility to women after treatment with chemotherapy."