Scientists Have Successfully Grown Rabbit’s Penis
Study Group of the Wake Forest University have successfully grown a rabbit’s penis, based on collagen and cells of rabbits. With artificial penis rabbits regained not only erectile function but also the reproduction ability, a medical conference in the U.S. has been told.
The research was led by the team of Dr. Anthony Atala, who said that the novel experiments raise hope that tissue engineering can one day be used to help men with severe impotence, or needing penile reconstruction, to regain their full sexual function.
The concept is that cells from a reduced organ are sprayed onto a collagen matrix, then bathed with compounds that stimulate cell growth and left in kept in an environment that duplicates the temperature and chemical makeup of living tissue.
The cells were naturally reproduced in the laboratory and within weeks have grown enough to be used to replace or reconstruct the defective organ or body structure. After that the cells were surgically implanted in the sexual organs of rabbits. Since the implanted cells come directly from the body part that needs repair, problems associated with rejection are eliminated.
This scientific breakthrough gives hope for a similar restoration of the human penis, if it was damaged in accident or illness. However, scientists said that before starting the approbation of this technology in humans it is necessary to conduct additional studies.
“Right now we can do partial penile repair but in order to do complete replacements we need to make sure all the parts are there, including the nerves,” Atala said in a media statement. “This research takes us one step closer.”