Science Makes Tiny 3D Model of Women’s Reproductive System
Researchers have invented a tiny, 3d model of the female reproductive system that some are calling “period in a dish.” This is a revolution for women’s health research.
Scientists at Northwestern University have invented a tiny 3D model of a woman’s reproductive system. Yes, they’re calling it a period in a dish. But it’s way more than that.
This new device, called EVATAR, propels women’s health research into the future. Yes, it mimics all aspects of the 28-day female cycle. But it’s also a personalizable, working 3D model of the entire female reproductive system that you can hold in your hand. It will be used to test drugs and find cures for all kind of illnesses.
This video from Northwestern University gives a great overview of this groundbreaking technology.
Little, Different, Better
Until very recently, all research has used isolated cells or animals, but neither is totally accurate. Mice or non-human primate studies can give science an idea of how people work. The animals used in research have various similarities with humans, but react differently to drugs and illnesses. All us animals are related genetically, but we’re not the same. In addition to that, no two women are identical. So, if your doctor wants to find out how a certain treatment will work on you, wouldn’t it be best to test it on your own cells?
But you can’t just test a drug on bunch of cells and expect to know how the drug will work in a whole, entire body. Because your your organs aren’t living in a vacuum–it’s literally all connected. Designing a model of the whole reproductive system that uses a woman’s own cells is a much better approach.
So Many Possibilities for Women’s Health Research
EVATAR is a perfect example of personalized medicine. It can use a woman’s own stem cells to find out how she, specifically, will respond to a certain drug. But that’s just one example of the possibilities for this model.
Dr. Teresa Woodruff was the lead researcher on the project. As she told The Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine’s News Center,
"We’ve established 3-D cultures of female reproductive tissues that respond physiologically to female sex steroids, estrogen and progesterone."
This goes way beyond studying menstruation. Dr. Woodruff continued:
"Our culture models allow us to assess changes across the cycle and in the presence of potentially disruptive compounds, such as chemotherapy and environmental toxins."
What she’s saying, in plain English, is that they invented a very small machine that contains the same cells and hormones as ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus and all the rest of the organs in our reproductive systems. It’s a model of women that science can use, without testing on actual women, to learn about women in a holistic manner. (That’s holistic as in taking the whole system into consideration, not as in using only natural healing techniques. Although the two do overlap.)
Scientists can use EVATAR to find out how you’d respond to specific cancer drugs to find which is best for you and your condition. It also can help get a better understanding of causes of and treatments for endometriosis, infertility, fibroids and more.
Similar Research
This is part of the first generation of lab-on-a-chip, or tissue-on-a-chip technologies. Both the NIH and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) are putting a great deal of effort and money into the development of these microsystems. Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the NIH, explains on his blog:
"A lot of time, money, and effort are devoted to developing new drugs. Yet only one of every 10 drug candidates entering human clinical trials successfully goes on to receive approval. Many would-be drugs fall by the wayside because [of] toxicity that, unfortunately, isn’t always detected in preclinical studies using mice, rats, or other animal models. That explains why scientists are working so hard to devise technologies that can do a better job of predicting early on which chemical compounds will be safe in humans."
Researchers all over the world are working on microsystems to mimic the human brain, nervous system, lungs, digestive systems, and more. You get the idea. It’s the first real step toward medical tricorders, like you see in Star Trek.
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This is the end result of research funded under the Obama administration. If the president gets his way with the potentially disastrous 2018 budget that’s currently under consideration, the government will not be able to fund new research. Let alone amazing advances like these. Call your representatives and tell them not to cut NIH funding. And vote for Democrats in 2018!