While it has not yet been tested on humans, a new penis replacement technique is in the works, and could help many males who suffer from such maladies as cancer and disfigurement.

Anthony Atala, M.D., the director of the Institute for Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, reported his findings this week to the annual meeting of the American Urological Association in Atlanta, Georgia.

There is a great deal of optimism surrounding these findings, as a similar technique has been successfully employed to replace bladders in human children with spinal bifida.

Scientists have been able to remove the penises of rabbits and replace those using cells from the rabbits’ own bodies. Their goal is eventually to make this possible for humans who have lost their penises in accidents, to disease, or who suffer from disfigurement. The penises functioned perfectly in the test rabbits, both sexually and reproductively.