Monthly Archives: February 2012

By Ryan Flinn - Sun Feb 26 18:00:00 GMT 2012 Stem cells taken from human ovaries can produce normal, healthy eggs, scientists demonstrated for the first time in an experiment that may lead to new methods to help infertile women. The finding challenges a belief that women have a fixed number of eggs, or oocytes, from birth that are depleted by the time of menopause, and that their ovaries can't make make more. The research, led by Jonathan Tilly, director of Harvard University-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital’s Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, is published today in the journal Nature Medicine. In 2004, Tilly discovered that ovarian stem cells in mice can create new eggs, similar to how stem cells in male testes produce sperm throughout a man’s life. The latest study proves the same is true in human ovaries, and may point to new ways to overcome infertility or preserve fertility by delaying the time when a woman’s ovaries stop functioning, he said. “The 50-year-old belief in our field wasn’t actually based on data proving it was impossible, or not ongoing, it was simply an assumption made because there was no evidence indicating otherwise,” Tilly said in a telephone interview. “We … Continue reading →

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff Massachusetts General Hospital researchers reported today they have discovered a rare stem cell in women’s ovaries that they hope one day might be used to make eggs, a claim already generating vigorous debate among scientists familiar with the research. For decades, it has been thought that women are born with a finite supply of eggs, limiting their reproductive years. Doctors have sought ways of extending the fertility of women, especially as many wait later in life to begin having children. The research, led by Jonathan Tilly of Mass. General and appearing in the journal Nature Medicine, opens the door to the possibility of taking tissue from a woman’s ovaries, harvesting stem cells from that tissue, and then creating eggs. But scientists not involved with the Mass. General research said such an approach -- if it is even possible -- sits far in the future and will require considerably more work. Several scientists said Tilly, who co-founded a company focused on developing novel infertility treatments, had not yet made a convincing case that the stem cells he discovered can yield viable eggs, a critical first step. Tilly has been a lightning rod in the field … Continue reading →

SUNDAY, Feb. 26 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that they've isolated stem cells from adult human ovaries that can mature into eggs that may be capable of fertilization. The lab findings, which upend longstanding scientific theory, could potentially lead to new reproductive technologies and possibly extend the years of a woman's fertility. It was long believed that women were born with a lifetime supply of eggs, which was depleted by menopause. But a growing body of research -- including a new paper from Massachusetts General Hospital -- suggests egg production may continue into adulthood. The study is published in the March issue of Nature Medicine. "Fifty years of thinking, in every aspect of experiments, of interpreting the results, and of the clinical management of ovarian function and fertility in women was dictated by one simple belief that turns out to be incorrect," said lead study author Jonathan Tilly, director of the hospital's Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology. "That belief was the egg cell pool endowed at birth is a fixed entity that cannot be renewed." Dr. Avner Hershlag, chief of the Center for Human Reproduction at North Shore-LIJ Health System in Manhasset, N.Y., said the study is "exciting" but emphasized … Continue reading →