Soon, lab-grown penises for people with congenital abnormalities

A new research has revealed that lab-grown penises for people with congenital abnormalities are ready to be tested on men.

Researchers at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, who are assessing engineered penises for safety, function and durability, hope to receive approval from the US Food and Drug Administration and to move to human testing within five years, the Guardian reported.

Anthony Atala, director of the institute, said that the rabbit studies were very encouraging, but to get approval for humans they need all the safety and quality assurance data, they need to show that the materials aren't toxic and have to spell out the manufacturing process, step by step.

The penises would be grown using a patient's own cells to avoid the high risk of immunological rejection after organ transplantation from another individual and cells taken from the remainder of the patient's penis would be grown in culture for four to six weeks.

Atala added that their target is to get the organs into patients with injuries or congenital abnormalities.

Researcher Asif Muneer said that the technology, if successful, would offer a huge advance over current treatment strategies for men with penile cancer and traumatic injuries and at present, men can have a penis reconstructed using a flap from their forearm or thigh, with a penile prosthetic implanted to simulate an erection.

He added that his concern is that they might struggle to recreate a natural erection, which is a coordinated neurophysiological process starting in the brain, so it will be their challenge if they can reproduce that function or whether this is just an aesthetic improvement.