Researchers create "mini-livers" with adult stem cells

Researchers at the University of Wake Forest have created miniature livers which function like large versions of the human organ using adult stem cells. They hope they will eventually be able to use this method to create livers large enough for transplant.

In this case, a detergent was used to strip away the cells from the liver, leaving only the collagen framework which supported them, and a network of tiny blood vessels.

The new stem cells - in this case, immature liver cells and endothelial cells, to produce a new lining for the blood vessels - were gradually introduced.

After a week in a "bioreactor", which nurtured the cells with a mixture of nutrients and oxygen, the scientists saw widespread cell growth within the structure, and even signs of some normal functions in the tiny organ.

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