36
42 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COM
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (4)❯
3-D PRINTING is now
tackling fertility. A team
from Northwestern
University showed that mice
implanted with 3-D-printed ovaries
can birth healthy offspring — a
medical first that paves the way
to scale up the bioprosthetics
for humans.
The group printed the organs by
overlapping pieces of biocompatible
gelatin — think of stacking Lincoln
Logs. Then, researchers inserted
up to 50 follicles into each ovary.
These structures produce hormones
and also contain eggs. Next, they
implanted two ovaries each in seven
sterile mice, and mated them with
male mice. After a normal gestation
of roughly three weeks, three
females gave birth to healthy litters.
The study, published in Nature
Communications in May, also
noted that the new moms lactated,
evidence of the follicles’ normal
hormone production. Though still
a long way off, the team hopes
similar methods for humans could
allow cancer survivors facing
chemotherapy-induced infertility
to become mothers. KATHERINE KORNEIMice Birth Pups
From Artificial Ovaries
Researchers implanted
3-D-printed ovaries into
sterile female mice that later
gave birth. Eggs housed in
the ovaries (circled, right)
were engineered to glow
green under certain light
to make the pups (above)
easier to spot.This gelatinous
artificial ovary
(above) helps mouse
eggs (left) develop
and survive inside
sterile female mice.