Transplanted ovaries adjust to the recipient’s biological age

Check your subscription status, update your details and more. Transplanted ovaries adjust to the recipient’s biological age Ovaries from older mice, which were no longer able to reproduce, seemed to become active again when transplanted into younger animals, suggesting the new host's body lowered the organs' molecular age A light micrograph of a section through early-stage follicles, which house immature eggs, in an ovary Transplanted ovaries appear to take on the age of their recipients’ bodies. When young mice received ovaries from animals that were past their natural fertility window, the young mice gave birth to healthy offspring.

This suggests the younger bodies lowered the molecular age of the older ovaries. Transplanting younger ovaries into older mice also boosted the animals’ overall health, adding to the evidence that ovaries play a greater role in ageing and physiology than we realised. The discovery follows recent research that found transplanted hearts shift towards the recipient’s age.

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