Infertility affects one in five couples in France, and more than 200 million people worldwide. The use of medically assisted procreation (MAP) is increasingly common, but its results are still suboptimal and sometimes very trying for couples. To improve assisted reproduction techniques, researchers from Toulouse University Hospital, the University of Toulouse, and Inserm have been studying the functioning of a still poorly understood yet essential structure in the reproductive process: the fallopian tubes, which extend on either side of the uterus. At the time of ovulation, the egg and sperm meet in the fallopian tubes. This is where fertilization and the first stages of embryonic development begin.
To study them from every angle, the team of Nicolas Gatimel, a biologist at the Toulouse University Hospital's ART center and a lecturer and researcher at the University of Toulouse, designed fallopian tube organoids from tissues of patients who had undergone contraceptive ablation. The researchers created small 3D structures that partially reproduce the organ's functions. The objective of their work: to better understand how the fallopian tubes function in acquiring the fertilizing power of spermatozoa in order to better understand certain infertilities and improve medically assisted procreation techniques. Science and Future spoke with Nicolas Gamel to learn more about the scope of his work.
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