reported today: first human recipients of lab-grown vaginas using patients' own cells

[eShirl]

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140410194326.htm

Laboratory-grown vaginas implanted in patients
Date:
April 10, 2014
Source:
Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center
Summary:
Scientists reported the first human recipients of laboratory-grown vaginal organs. They have described long-term success in four teenage girls who received vaginal organs that were engineered with their own cells.

[Wounded Bear]

1. Wow...

Snarky thoughts aside, if this restores reproductive health to these young women, it's unimaginably good news.

Many

[d_r]

2. yeah this is great

I am so happy for these girls and hope that it helps them in their lives.

[Kelvin Mace]

3. This has interesting ramifications

in transgender surgeries.

[bananasplitbaby]

4. I was kinda thinking that myself.

It's great that they have successfully been able to help these girls, I was curious how effective it would be for the trans-gen community. Whether it would be equally successful and how much safer than the current options it would be. Interesting read.

[siligut]

6. My first thought and they are apparently quite nice vaginas

They self-lubricate and the study females, now in their early to mid-twenties also report, " In addition, the patients' responses to a Female Sexual Function Index questionnaire showed they had normal sexual function after the treatment, including desire and pain-free intercourse."

However, these perfect, engineered vaginae were created using the patient's own existing vaginal cells, which transgender individuals do not possess. It is possible to use donor vaginal cells to manufacture a vagina for a person without one, however tissue rejection is the problem there. I would hope that stem cells could be used and just made to act like vaginal cells; maybe this is already in the works?

[Kelvin Mace]

7. Stem cells would be the way to go

[NickB79]

8. I wonder if cells from a sister or mother would be a close enough match?

Though the trans-gen recipient would then have to live their life knowing they literally have their mother's vagina......

[Warpy]

5. This will help those girls greatly

and down the line, they might be able to suppress the Y chromosome enough to do it for trans women, but that's way down the line.

Still, I hope I'm not the only one who had a flash of Wanda Sykes and her hilarious "detachable vagina" bit.