Scientists unveil the technique to create an artificial ovary

Women unable to have children received new hope – after scientists created an artificial ovary.

A synthetic organ – made from the woman's own tissue – could be transplanted into a left infertile woman because of medical treatment. It can then produce eggs naturally.

The revolutionary technique is being developed to help women and girls who undergo chemotherapy for cancer treatment.

Chemotherapy drugs can make a woman sterile since they can destroy the ovaries. Young girls who have not yet puberty can be sterilized before their ovaries can even produce eggs.

One approach to avoid this is to freeze the ovarian tissue – which produces eggs – before chemo treatment and replace it afterwards. But this presents a risk in cancer patients, as they may be re-exposed to cancer cells housed in the ovarian tissue removed.

The new technique prevents this by removing all potentially cancerous cells from ovarian tissue patients, leaving only a "scaffold" – a protein structure that no longer contains cells, eliminating the risk of cancer . The framework provides an environment for the patient's early stage ovarian follicles – which can continue to generate hundreds of eggs – to grow. It can then be grafted into the patient's body and allow a woman to produce eggs naturally each month.

The experiments will be unveiled by Dr. Susanne Pors of the Rigshospitalet Laboratory of Reproductive Biology in Copenhagen at the European Society for Human Health. Conference on Reproduction and Embryology in Barcelona

Clinical trials in humans should be completed within five years.

Daily Mail