Mini reproductive system on a chip mimics human menstrual cycle

reports on a study published in Nature Communications describing “an artificial female reproductive system” built to provide a model for research. The idea is that such models could help study disease and “test new contraceptives and fertility treatments.” One reason for building the model is that “there is no good animal model for the 28-day human reproductive cycle.” The system, named Evatar, “contains five ‘organs’ linked together by a blood-like liquid carrying hormones, cell signalling molecules and drugs.” Some of the system is human tissue – Fallopian tubes, uterus, cervix, and liver – while the ovaries are mouse tissue. Teresa Woodruff, one of the study’s co-authors, said that the model fulfills an “urgent unmet need for us,” and “says that her lab is planning to study various diseases” with the system. “Shots” blog reports the device may help “lead to new treatments” for problems as diverse as “fibroids and endometriosis...infertility, miscarriages and gynecologic cancers.” The organs made of tissue are in “separate plastic chambers...connected through passageways that allows fluid to circulate among them.” Altogether it is “about the size of a paperback book.” The researchers said they “were able to recapitulate the full menstrual cycle” with the device. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/03/28/521428903/device-mimicking-female-reproductive-cycle-could-aid-research