Scientists Keep a Human Uterus Alive Outside the Body

Researchers have successfully kept a woman’s uterus alive outside her body for the first time. The organ was maintained in a metal box roughly the size of a kitchen counter, filled with plastic tubing that mimicked veins and arteries to keep it functioning.

Javier González, who led the work at MIT, showed off the device—essentially a biological life support system. The transparent chambers held the uterus connected to tubes carrying oxygen and nutrients, keeping the organ viable while outside the body.

This is the first time doctors have achieved this with a human uterus. Previous work kept other organs alive outside the body, but a uterus presented different challenges. The breakthrough could eventually help people with uterine damage or absence have biological children.