Swedish Researchers Report Babies After Uturus Transplant in Mice

Swedish researchers report they have transplanted wombs from one set of genetically identical mice to another and produced normal healthy babies.

This would mark the first time live births have been achieved with a transplanted uterus in any species, according to the researchers from Sahlgrenska University in Goteborg.

"There were reports in the 1960s and 1970s of live births from replanted uteri, but these were uteri taken out and replaced in the same animal, so not true transplants. These are the first true transplants in the world to produce live births," researcher Mats Brannstrom told the press at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology annual conference in Madrid.

In each recipient mouse, the transplanted uterus was placed alongside the normal uterus. The mice that were born in the grafted uteri had normal body weight, showed normal behaviour and were fertile.

The Swedish researchers tested two different methods of preservation. Organs preserved for 24 hours in a solution used for the preservation of human kidneys were normal two weeks after the transplant. But organs preserved for 48 hours in the same solution had impaired blood flow and after two weeks had started to die.

The team is now working on transplantation of uteri in pigs.

Other Sources: European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology