Researchers from the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have taken one step closer to creating a 3D printed ovary for humans. These ovaries could be transplanted into women who have fertility issues for reasons such as infertility due to chemotherapy side effects.

The 3D printed ovary could one day help infertile women have children.

The team identified and mapped the location of structural proteins in the pig ovary. The structural proteins in pig ovaries are the same as human proteins. The team created a pipeline to identify and map the proteins at the organ level. This is part of the ongoing development of ink for 3D printed artificial ovaries.

Researchers used the ovarian structural proteins to engineer a biological scaffold. This scaffold can support a bank of potential eggs and hormone-producing cells that are needed for pregnancy. After the artificial ovary is implanted in a patient, it would respond to natural ovulation cues. In November 2019, the team received a patent for their artificial ovary.

So far, the team has successfully implanted a 3D printed ovary in a sterile mouse. After implantation, the mouse became pregnant and successfully delivered babies.

A paper on this research was published in Scientific Reports.