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Miniature Human Livers Grown In Lab

Posted by Soulskill on from the less-filling-tastes-great dept.

Zothecula writes "In the quest to grow replacement human organs in the lab, livers are no doubt at the top of many a barfly's wish list. With its wide range of functions that support almost every organ in the body and no way to compensate for the absence of liver function, the ability to grow a replacement is also the focus of many research efforts. Now, for the first time, researchers have been able to successfully engineer miniature livers in the lab using human liver cells."

20 of 154 comments (clear)

  1. Do they taste good with fava beens and chianti? by spun · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm just wondering...

    --
    - None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
  2. Miniature drinks? by Toe,+The · · Score: 5, Funny

    So if they make me a miniature liver, does that mean I can only drink those little 8oz beers?

    1. Re:Miniature drinks? by pantheonwhaley · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah, and you can only go to minibars. The upside is that the ladies wear miniskirts.

    2. Re:Miniature drinks? by cayenne8 · · Score: 2, Interesting
      "So if they make me a miniature liver, does that mean I can only drink those little 8oz beers?"

      I don't think so..either you plug a bunch of them together for form normal function. Or, perhaps, all the growth hormones we injest from our food would help make it grow to full size once implanted.

      It must work, I mean...have you see the tits on young girls these days?!?!? They sure didn't have them like that when I was young. I'm talking grade school young too...ouch! Glad I'm not the father to one and have to keep the boys off them.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    3. Re:Miniature drinks? by HungryHobo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      you just felt older at the time.
      at 13 you felt far older than a 13 year old looks to you now.
      plus it's the outlier which catch attention, not the norm.

      things change.
      people stay the same.

      it's like how old people are convinced that the world was a safer place in their youth and the teenagers far more respectful.

    4. Re:Miniature drinks? by Sulphur · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, and you can only go to minibars.

      The upside is that the ladies wear miniskirts.

      And they sing Cry Me a Liver.

    5. Re:Miniature drinks? by houstonbofh · · Score: 2, Funny

      So if they make me a miniature liver, does that mean I can only drink those little 8oz beers?

      Cheap date...

  3. More on the topic by zrbyte · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here's a TED talk from Alan Russell on the methods and details of this technology.

  4. Re:Mini-Me? by Farmer+Tim · · Score: 4, Funny

    Alcoholic pygmies are a dime a dozen. Which is just as well, since they're easier to carry in a twelve-pack.

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    Blank until /. makes another boneheaded UI decision.
  5. How long can I keep being an alcoholic with this? by Last_Available_Usern · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How often am I going to have to swap this out? Is there a MDBF (mean drinks before failure)?

  6. How much liver do we need to make a difference? by Guppy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, it looks like these mini livers put us just slightly under two orders of magnitude in size away before getting sufficient capacity to sustain a human (at the mentioned minimum of 30% normal function).

    Or does it? in many cases, liver disease is the result of a chronic and slow destruction that does not remove all capacity at a stroke; rather, the person slowly loses capacity until at some point it becomes insufficient to sustain life.

    I am hoping a partial transplant of even a micro-sized lobe might be sufficient to bump them back up to capacity. If we can get a big enough liver-oid to provide a few years function, that might be enough for an elderly patient to live out the rest of their normal life-span (or at least normal "health-span").

    1. Re:How much liver do we need to make a difference? by icegreentea · · Score: 3, Interesting

      There have been cases where people badly in need of a liver transplant due to failure have been put on artificial livers that took enough load off the livers/bought the patient enough time that their livers regenerated themselves completely. No need for transplant!

    2. Re:How much liver do we need to make a difference? by MaskedSlacker · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You sir obviously do not live in a suburban coastal community.

      Many people around here think of surgery as recreation.

    3. Re:How much liver do we need to make a difference? by lxs · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Breathing room may work for lungs. Livers need living room.

  7. How about a Beowolf Cluster of by CYDVicious · · Score: 2, Funny

    these mini livers, to share the load?

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  8. Re:Barfly wishlist by FatAlb3rt · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't know why they'd be worried their livers - that's why God gave us two of them, in case one goes bad.

  9. Re:Barfly wishlist by interkin3tic · · Score: 2, Funny

    Since we learned to grow them in mice... infinity.

  10. Re:Still need anti-rejection drugs? by malakai · · Score: 2, Informative

    No, failure of the whole liver all at once would be exceptionally rare. Cirrhosis for example takes years to die from. Parts of the liver end up becoming 'scar' tissue, and cease to perform liver functions. At some point in time, if the disease isn't stopped and you fall below some threshold of healthy liver cells, you'll end up dead.

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    -Malakai
    A Dragon Lives in my Garage
  11. Some where under a rainbow by Fr05t · · Score: 2, Funny

    Leprechauns rejoice!

  12. Re:You just wait by God'sDuck · · Score: 2, Funny

    These things will mutate and go on the attack....The only way to control it is LOTS of alcohol..

    So...it's like a fraternity?