Fertility cold-stored

Ovary stored for future use: t (Credit: Anand Singh Rawat)DEVELOPED by Roger Gosden of the
University of Leeds in the UK, the
process of restoring woman's fertility
involves the removal of the ovaries
before chemotherapy and radiation in
cancer patients. A few slices of it are put
in cold storage with the hope that the
frozen pieces of this life-generating
organ will function normally when it is
replaced later.

The technique is deceptively simple.
The ovary is removed surgically. It is
skinned and slices a millimetre thick
each, from its outer surface which bears
eggs, are removed. These slices are
processed with a chemical called
dimethylsulfoxide to avoid damage that
its freezing in liquid nitrogen is likely to cause.

Because frozen ovaries can remain
in storage for decades, the woman can
have her ovarian tissues back as soon as
she is ready for it. The slices of the ovary
are sewn onto the blood vessels that earlier fed the ovaries. The reimplanted tissue thrives on the blood and Arithin a
few weeks, the tissue rounds up and
forms a miniature ovary". After a few
weeks the reconstituted ovary begins to
ovulate, restoring the fertility of the patient.

For healthy women, the fascinating
technique holds a promise to keep them
fertile even after their menopause - a
possibility that has created apprehension among experts that elderly women
may not be fit enough to become
mothers. "A crumbling scaffold riddled
with osteoporosis is probably not
suited to go through nine months of
pregnancy," critiques Bernadine Healy of the College
of Medicine, Ohio State
University in the US.

Women with breast cancer or cancer of any part of
the reproductive system are
also rejected as potential
recipients of the treatment.
Researchers feel that restoring ovarian functions in these
women could cause a recurrence of their cancer.

Whether this is just a
theoretical proposition, or
whether we are really going to
benefit from this technique
that has the, potential of turning back the biological clock,
remains to be seen.

"We do believe that it will
work. We were just not
putting tissue into a bank and fingers," defends
crossing our Gosden. But the success of
the experiment on animals
do not assure its success
among women.