Whoa! They did it! Tissue engineered vaginas are a real thing

[Jennygirl]

My heart is fluttering

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/04/11/lab-grown-vaginas-successfully-implanted-in-girls-in-tissue-engineering-first/ 🔗

Fully implanted the womb and everything, fully functional with menstruation and everything. I can hardly believe it.

[ZoeM]

Good for revisions down the road, when the FDA approves it at long last.

[Jennygirl]

Good for revisions down the road, when the FDA approves it at long last.

Absolutely, I could see this being great for all trans people.. pre-op/post-op and FtM's too 🙂

[BunnyBee]

Awes 🙂

[FalseHybridPrincess]

That would be the day...

[Jessica Merriman]

Don't get excited yet folks!

These were implanted in cis girls with their own cells and DNA. The only trans patient to ever receive on rejected it after only 72 hours. Even with anti rejection meds we are at least 15-20 years away before anymore attempts on cis born recipients. Rejection is the big issue now. Yes, right now it works in cis born girls and No, they are not even close to having success in cis males. Hate to burst the bubble, but science has a long way to go. I would not wait for it, but plan on SRS. 🙂

[eggy_nog]

Don't get excited yet folks!

These were implanted in cis girls with their own cells and DNA. The only trans patient to ever receive on rejected it after only 72 hours. Even with anti rejection meds we are at least 15-20 years away before anymore attempts on cis born recipients. Rejection is the big issue now. Yes, right now it works in cis born girls and No, they are not even close to having success in cis males. Hate to burst the bubble, but science has a long way to go. I would not wait for it, but plan on SRS.

Are you sure..? Even if they use cheek cell tissue to create tissue and implant that? I guess they could also (eventually) find ways to create vaginal tissue from stem cells from any patient, considering everyone has at least one X chromosome (apart from some rare chromosomal abnormalities I guess).

[Jennygirl]

Jessica- are you sure you aren't getting it confused with a vaginal transplantation from person to person? I believe I have heard of that rejecting too.

The difference here is that they have used someone's own cells/DNA to generate the tissues & organs as if they had grown everything themselves. I don't think rejection would be a problem because this isn't a transplantation- it's an implantation. First they grow the entire reproductive system with the person's native DNA (on some sort of cellular lattice) and then implant it! The lattice then dissolves leaving just the tissues if I understand it correctly.

No way you are gonna rain on my parade! 😀 😉

[Jessica Merriman]

Are you sure..? Even if they use cheek cell tissue to create tissue and implant that? I guess they could also (eventually) find ways to create vaginal tissue from stem cells from any patient, considering everyone has at least one X chromosome (apart from some rare chromosomal abnormalities I guess).

Absolutely positive. I was a professional health care provider for 28 years. I had a vested interest in this technology and made many connections with genetic researchers and bio engineers. I even volunteered for a trial myself, but the project was put on hold after the failure I mentioned. You have to have a like cell from the vagina and the DNA coding MUST match the recipient. It also has to be anchored to the uterus which we do not have.  If it does not rejection occurred 72 hours give or take after it's implantation in a cis male transsexual. The stress almost killed the recipient so it has been put on indefinite hold for transsexuals. Hate to be a buzzkill because no one want it more than I do, but maybe some day it will happen successfully. I am still planning SRS as I don't see it within 20 years. 🙂

[Jennygirl]

Absolutely positive. I was a professional health care provider for 28 years. I had a vested interest in this technology and made many connections with genetic researchers and bio engineers. I even volunteered for a trial myself, but the project was put on hold after the failure I mentioned. You have to have a like cell from the vagina and the DNA coding MUST match the recipient. It also has to be anchored to the uterus which we do not have.  If it does not rejection occurred 72 hours give or take after it's implantation in a cis male transsexual. The stress almost killed the recipient so it has been put on indefinite hold for transsexuals. Hate to be a buzzkill because no one want it more than I do, but maybe some day it will happen successfully. I am still planning SRS as I don't see it within 20 years.

Here comes the rain!

nnnnnnoooooo my hair!!!

Well it was a beautiful parade while it lasted for me. That makes a lot of sense. It's not going to stop me from inquiring though 😉

[Jessica Merriman]

It's not going to stop me from inquiring though

Oh heavens no! I didn't mean it that way and I stay connected with my colleagues probably too much for their comfort. 😉 I just want everyone to plan as though it will not be reality soon so they can prepare for SRS and not wait too long for the golden goose.  🙂

[eggy_nog]

Hmm interesting. Which biotech company is it doing the research in this field?

Also is it not possible to allow the cells to grow unanchored to a uterus? Surely they wiuld be anchored to the entrance, and could they not promote growth of connective tissue around the outside? I have access to the paper on The Lancet, and I believe only 1 of the patients had a uterus.

Also - not quite sure why it wouldn't work as a cultivation of check mucosa that they can use?

[eggy_nog]

Also is this something that is likely to still work after a current srs op, or only before? That I have no idea aboutw... Considering waiting if srs wouldn't work with it 😕

[xponentialshift]

Jessica- are you sure you aren't getting it confused with a vaginal transplantation from person to person? I believe I have heard of that rejecting too.

The difference here is that they have used someone's own cells/DNA to generate the tissues & organs as if they had grown everything themselves. I don't think rejection would be a problem because this isn't a transplantation- it's an implantation. First they grow the entire reproductive system with the person's native DNA (on some sort of cellular lattice) and then implant it! The lattice then dissolves leaving just the tissues if I understand it correctly.

No way you are gonna rain on my parade! 😀

That's pretty much what I said on a different thread about this... Then I went and read the study instead of the article... The article doesn't emphasize how those epithelial cells and muscle cells only worked because they took a vulvar biopsy and essentially fed the other cells to it so it would grow. Sadly us trans women don't have any vulvar cells to biopsy, at least not until they can control stem cells better.

[Jessica Merriman]

Also - not quite sure why it wouldn't work as a cultivation of check mucosa that they can use?

That's would work....if you want to produce more cheek mucosa. It is like a cardiac cell cannot grow a liver cell. Like cells is the key. Cells only generate LIKE cells. We get into an ethical issue when we try to alter cells for another purpose or to get specific results. Think Germany WWII. Hitler was obsessed with genetics and wanted to eliminate or accelerate certain characteristics in the DNA patterns. Biotech engineers have to be really careful what they create or attempt as their research can and most likely would be used for purposes not always healthy for society or the world. If Hitler's scientist's had access to todays technology <shivers> what would the world be like today? DNA manipulation is a very dangerous thing. Growing skin for a burn patient with their own cells is one thing, altering DNA to achieve another purpose is dangerous and not to be taken lightly. No one knows fully yet how manipulated DNA is going to evolve in the future of the subject. 🙂

[eggy_nog]

Yes I mean just use a cheek cell mucosa tissue growth as a substitute for the normal vaginal. Sounds reasonable to me..

I don't quite agree with that tbh.. I mean think of the medical potential. And besides, the thymus expresses a large variety of tissue proteins/antigens found all over the body. It's really just a question of selectively activating certain genes in stem cells to allow specific cell lineages to develop.

As I'm sure you know there are ethical considerations in pretty much all aspects of medicine. I don't believe that potential for bad should stop something if it's potential benefit outweighs the bad. Also these things tend to be title regulated.. Just look at licensing to work with stem cells.

Sorry, which company is doing the research you mentioned? I'm interested to look at their web page/any papers they've published 🙂

[Jennygirl]

That's would work....if you want to produce more cheek mucosa. It is like a cardiac cell cannot grow a liver cell. Like cells is the key. Cells only generate LIKE cells. We get into an ethical issue when we try to alter cells for another purpose or to get specific results. Think Germany WWII. Hitler was obsessed with genetics and wanted to eliminate or accelerate certain characteristics in the DNA patterns. Biotech engineers have to be really careful what they create or attempt as their research can and most likely would be used for purposes not always healthy for society or the world. If Hitler's scientist's had access to todays technology <shivers> what would the world be like today? DNA manipulation is a very dangerous thing. Growing skin for a burn patient with their own cells is one thing, altering DNA to achieve another purpose is dangerous and not to be taken lightly. No one knows fully yet how manipulated DNA is going to evolve in the future of the subject.

What confuses me, then, is how they grew all the nerves and everything else in the vagina with nothing more than a cell sample from the vulva. If what you say is true, then wouldn't they need cells from all of the parts of their vaginas- which they did not have?

[Jessica Merriman]

They have not gotten nerve sensation established yet. Only sensation comes from the clitoris an labia's. The transplanted vaginal canal is basically a genetic toilet paper tube. 🙂