(NewsNation) — There’s new hope for men suffering from fertility issues.
According to a new report from the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University have succeeded in creating “laboratory testicles” that may significantly advance understanding of the mechanisms involved in sex determination.
The artificial testicles, scientists say, may also contribute to the advancement of research in male fertility and sexual development disorders, which affect one in 12 men worldwide, and are expected to facilitate the eventual production of sperm in the laboratory.
The artificial testicles produced in Dr. Nitzan Gonen’s lab at the Goodman Faculty of Life Sciences and the Institute of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials at Bar-Ilan University, are testis organoids — tiny, artificial organs produced from real mouse testis.
The development of organoids has greatly advanced in the last decade. Organoids of the brain, kidneys, intestines and other organs have already been produced. The testicular organoids created by Gonen’s group closely simulate a natural testicle.
The organoids were successfully cultured in vitro for nine weeks. This is considered a long period of time and can, theoretically, be enough time to complete the process of sperm production and hormone secretion.