NPR

Device Mimicking Female Reproductive Cycle Could Aid Research

Scientists have assembled a lab system from living tissue that can replicate a woman's 28-day hormonal cycle. The goal is to use the system to find new ways to treat a host of women's health problems.
EVATAR is a book-sized lab system that can replicate a woman's reproductive cycle. Each compartment contains living tissue from a different part of the reproductive tract. The blue fluid pumps through each compartment, chemically connecting the various tissues.

Scientists say they've made a device in the lab that can mimic the human female reproductive cycle.

The researchers hope the device, assembled from living tissue, will lead to new treatments for many medical problems that plague some women, ranging from fibroids and endometriosis to infertility, miscarriages and gynecologic cancers.

The researchers the device Tuesday in the journaland dubbed it the EVATAR. The name, they say, is a play on the word "avatar."

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