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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."

7 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.

  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. 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.