US military funds research into lab-grown testicles for wounded soldiers

[iKate]

By David Lawler, Washington
Published: 5:45PM GMT 08 Jan 2016
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/12090097/US-military-funds-research-into-lab-grown-testicles-for-wounded-soldiers.html

The US military is funding research into lab-grown testicles for soldiers whose battlefield injuries leave them unable to conceive children.
More than 50,000 American troops have been wounded in action in Iraq and Afghanistan, the majority by improvised explosive devices.
The catastrophic effects of those explosions can be seen in the hundreds of soldiers who have lost arms and legs, those who can no longer dress themselves and those who can no longer walk.
But for some soldiers returning from war, the most devastating injury is not immediately visible.
An estimated 440 soldiers wounded in Iraq alone sustained injuries that would make it more difficult, or in many cases impossible, for them to conceive children.
Pentagon-backed research at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina could fundamentally alter the prognosis for such individuals.
Doctors there have managed to reconstruct intact testicles using stem cells from soldiers themselves.

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[iKate]

Some hope for the guys. There is research in this area, which is good.

[captains]

Man, I love reading about scientific advances like this. Although (and I don't know if it's true of this one), with every article I've ever read about penis transplants, testicle regrowth, etc etc there's always a line in there that's like, "But what about sexual reassignment? Well, obviously helping a wounded soldier sounds very different then transplanting for a transsexual..." Which is a little crushing, but hey! I'll take hope where I can get it.

Thanks for the info, Kate.

[iKate]

I think this research is good because a lot of these procedures can be adapted to us. They are now doing uterus transplants for example. Dr McGinn and a few others have hinted at the possibilities of MTFs being pregnant and giving birth. Would be a dream come true for me. I always knew it would be possible.

Remember a lot of what was developed for us was developed for cis people and then adapted. Hormones for example. Even vaginoplasties and FFS are based on procedures done for cis people.