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takyon writes:

Scientists have created a device called "EVATAR" that can mimic the human female reproductive cycle, culminating in the release of an egg:

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 described [open, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14584] [DX] the device Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications and dubbed it the EVATAR. The name, they say, is a play on the word "avatar." "An avatar is kind of a digital representation of an individual in a virtual environment," says Teresa Woodruff, a biomedical engineer in the department of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern University who helped create the system. "So when we thought about this synthetic version of the female reproductive tract we thought of the word EVATAR."

To create the EVATAR, the researchers used tissues from human fallopian tubes, a uterus and cervix donated by women who had undergone surgery. The researchers placed each tissue type in separate plastic chambers that were connected through passageways that allows fluid to circulate among them. One chamber contained ovarian tissue from mice because human ovarian tissue is difficult to obtain.

The device is about the size of a paperback book. It also includes human liver tissue to filter toxins from the system. The researchers were able to trigger the system to produce the cascade of hormones that usually occur during a woman's 28-day reproductive cycle. The cycle culminated in the ovarian tissue releasing an egg. "We were able to recapitulate the full menstrual cycle — a complete menstrual cycle," Woodruff says.

[...] In the meantime, the Northwestern researchers have already started to work on a male equivalent of the EVATAR. They've created a system involving male testes and prostate tissue they call the "Dude Cube." They are working on a more complex system that would connect the Dude Tube to other parts of the anatomy — a system they dub the "ADATAR."

Step 1: Pretend you are researching infertility treatments. Step 2: ???. Step 3: Begin production of artificial wombs.

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