Sandra Carson

Sandra Ann Carson is an American obstetrician who is the principal innovator of the first artificial human ovary. This innovation was reported in the ''Journal of Assisted Reproduction and Genetics'', and recognized by ''Time'' magazine as one of the top 10 medical breakthroughs in 2010.

In this work, Carson, et al. introduced theca cells donated by reproductive-age patients into "3-D Petri dishes" designed to resemble the sponge-like cells of a human ovary. In the lab, the cell types interacted with one another and functioned for all intents and purposes like a real ovary, even successfully maturing a human egg from its earliest stages in the follicle to a fully developed form.

To build the ovary, honeycombs of theca cells were formed, one of two key types in the ovary, donated by reproductive-age patients at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island. Together with human egg cells, donated granulosa cells were inserted into the honeycomb shape the theca cells formed. In days, the theca cells enveloped the granulosa and eggs, mimicking a real ovary.

Clinically, the artificial ovary could play a significant role in the future, eventually yielding new infertility treatments for women by preserving the fertility of cancer patients, for example: immature eggs could be salvaged and frozen before chemotherapy or radiation, and then matured outside the patient in the artificial ovary.

In parallel with this effort and a scientific first, Carson co-directed a research team by extracting information about gene expression from fertile human egg cells without hurting them. In this work the team was able to sequence the transcribed genetic material, or mRNA, in egg cells, in smaller structures pinched off from them called polar bodies. Polar bodies are nonfunctional and incapable of being fertilized. This new technique could ultimately give parents and doctors a preview of which eggs are likely to make the most viable embryos. Provided by Wikipedia