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"  An outrageously futuristic-sounding procedure that&amp;#039;s helped four cisgender women with a rare syndrome, while not developed for this purpose, might be an advancement in sex reassignment surgery. Jezebel reports that the four women suffered from a rare syndrome called Mayer-Rokitansky-K\u00FCster-Hauser (MRKH), which means that the vaginal canal is either severely underdeveloped or nonexistent. The process, via Reuters:  The researchers started off by collecting a small amount of cells from genital tissue and grew two types of cells in the lab: muscle cells and epithelial cells, a type of cell that lines body cavities. About four weeks later, the team started applying layers of the cells onto a scaffold made of collagen, a material that can be absorbed by the body. They then shaped the organ to fit each patient&amp;#039;s anatomy, and placed it in an incubator.  A week later, the team created a cavity in the body and surgically attached the vaginal implants to existing reproductive organs. Once implanted, nerves and blood vessels formed to feed the new organ, and new cells eventually replaced the scaffolding as it was absorbed by the body. This a major development in the .02 percent of women with MRKH \u2014 up until this point, inserting painful dilators was the only way to gradually stretch the vagina \u2014 and the huge advancement will hopefully be applied to the trans community as well. RELATED: I Was Born Without a Vagina, But I&amp;#039;m Still a Woman Follow Anna on Twitter. Photo Credit: Wake Forest Institute "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/news/a23493/implanted-vaginas/?src=rss>