7 ms·

Or transgender men and women who would love a natural source of hormones instead of being resigned to pills or regular injections for the rest of their lives.

nsxwolf 9y ago
Along those lines it seems like an artificial pancreas could be made in a similar fashion and end Type 1 diabetes.
- wayn3 9y ago
  An artificial pancreas can solve a lot more problems than just type 1 diabetes :)
- defined 9y ago
  Although this also would be a huge boon for Type 2 diabetics like me, I thought that the pancreas generated insulin from the Islets of Langerhans (or something like that - IANAB), which sounds a lot more complex to replicate than a scaffolding to support egg precursors - but this may just be my ignorance. Is there any progress in this regard that you could point me to?
  - nanofortnight 9y ago
    Pancreatic islet transplantation is already a thing. Islets are isolated and are introduced into the portal circulation. They embed themselves into the liver. This is normally only done in patients with brittle diabetes because of the need for immunosuppression. This is a less complex procedure than a full pancreas transplant.
    - defined 9y ago
      Thanks, that's informative. It doesn't seem like a 3D printing application, though, am I right?
AnkhMorporkian 9y ago
I'm not sure if that's a realistic hope. IANAB, but FtM individuals don't have a Y chromosome to work with, so I don't see how they could get the genetic coding to make testes work. You could use a biological male's DNA, but then you're trading hormones for anti-rejection pills.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- lotyrin 9y ago
  I wonder how immunologically different the proteins on an artificial testicle that had the host's DNA aside from a single close-relative donor Y chromosome would be.
- delecti 9y ago
  I believe there's only one gene on the Y chromosome that really kicks off "maleness", the SRY gene, and it doesn't code for "testicles". The SRY gene just kicks off another process, the genes for which are present in everybody. I think there would still be a few steps left to create the seed cells, but that would be the case in trans women as well, as it seems the mouse pseudo-ovaries were seeded with the mice's harvested eggs. I think there are genes on the Y chromosome which code for sperm cells, so trans men wouldn't be fertile with one of these testicle-chips, but even getting an endogenous source of hormones would be awesome. Also, I'm not sure what "IANAB" means. I am not a "?"
  - crowbahr 9y ago
    Biologist I think.
  - AnkhMorporkian 9y ago
    IANAB = I am not a biologist. I know there's SRY, and that does kick things off, but I also know there's a disorder where SRY translocates to the X chromosome. It causes otherwise XX individuals to develop as a male, but they don't produce testosterone and they require augmentation. That makes me believe that the testosterone producing genes are probably on the Y chromosome as well.

nsxwolf 9y ago

Along those lines it seems like an artificial pancreas could be made in a similar fashion and end Type 1 diabetes.

wayn3 9y ago
An artificial pancreas can solve a lot more problems than just type 1 diabetes :)
defined 9y ago
Although this also would be a huge boon for Type 2 diabetics like me, I thought that the pancreas generated insulin from the Islets of Langerhans (or something like that - IANAB), which sounds a lot more complex to replicate than a scaffolding to support egg precursors - but this may just be my ignorance. Is there any progress in this regard that you could point me to?
- nanofortnight 9y ago
  Pancreatic islet transplantation is already a thing. Islets are isolated and are introduced into the portal circulation. They embed themselves into the liver. This is normally only done in patients with brittle diabetes because of the need for immunosuppression. This is a less complex procedure than a full pancreas transplant.
  - defined 9y ago
    Thanks, that's informative. It doesn't seem like a 3D printing application, though, am I right?

AnkhMorporkian 9y ago

I'm not sure if that's a realistic hope. IANAB, but FtM individuals don't have a Y chromosome to work with, so I don't see how they could get the genetic coding to make testes work. You could use a biological male's DNA, but then you're trading hormones for anti-rejection pills.

deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
lotyrin 9y ago
I wonder how immunologically different the proteins on an artificial testicle that had the host's DNA aside from a single close-relative donor Y chromosome would be.
delecti 9y ago
I believe there's only one gene on the Y chromosome that really kicks off "maleness", the SRY gene, and it doesn't code for "testicles". The SRY gene just kicks off another process, the genes for which are present in everybody. I think there would still be a few steps left to create the seed cells, but that would be the case in trans women as well, as it seems the mouse pseudo-ovaries were seeded with the mice's harvested eggs. I think there are genes on the Y chromosome which code for sperm cells, so trans men wouldn't be fertile with one of these testicle-chips, but even getting an endogenous source of hormones would be awesome. Also, I'm not sure what "IANAB" means. I am not a "?"
- crowbahr 9y ago
  Biologist I think.
- AnkhMorporkian 9y ago
  IANAB = I am not a biologist. I know there's SRY, and that does kick things off, but I also know there's a disorder where SRY translocates to the X chromosome. It causes otherwise XX individuals to develop as a male, but they don't produce testosterone and they require augmentation. That makes me believe that the testosterone producing genes are probably on the Y chromosome as well.