Biotech Penile Implants Let Pigs Get Erections Again

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In what appears to be a major breakthrough in the quest to treat ED, scientists in China have successfully restored normal erections in pigs with injuries to their penises.

You read that correctly. You should count your days, little blue pill.

The tunica albuginea is a tissue in the penis that has a direct role in erections.

Approximately one to five percent of people suffer from Peyronie's disease, a condition in which scar tissue builds on the tunica albuginea tissue, which leads to Erectile Pain and thus ED. The scientists hope that this research will help restore erections in people with Peyronie's disease and other injuries.

It's surprisingly easy to understand how the penis works. The scientists were able to create an artificial version of the layers of tissue called the Artificial Tunica Albuginea. The experiments involved the detached pig penises, rat skin, and rabbit blood.

"Inspired by the delicate strain-adaptive structure of natural tunica albuginea, we propose an artificial tunica albuginea consisting of aligned yet crimped fibers," reads the study.

Each patch was carefully designed to match the real-life patch. The pigs were fitted with a patch, and the results were amazing. Most of the pigs regained normal penis function after a few weeks.

The paper says thatATA shows the ability to repair injuries and restore the function of the penile tissue in a pig model. The study shows that there is great promise for penile injury repair.

The patch has its limits for example failing to restore the natural tissue surrounding the damaged tunica albuginea.

The research isn't just for those affected by ED. The researchers are hopeful that similar methods and materials can be applied to other injured internal tissues.

The team concluded that the strategy for constructingATA could be extended to biomimetic constructs of various materials and other load-bearing tissues. The development of fluid-driven soft robots might be inspired by the fact that the penis of the mammal is controlled by blood flow.

Scientists made pigs with artificial tissue.

The man Horribly injured his penis after injecting it with insulation foam.