Functional lab-grown liver cells produced for first time

Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have developed a groundbreaking technique for growing functional human liver cells in the laboratory.

This new approach allowed the scientists to rapidly expand the number of human hepatocytes in the laboratory without losing their unique metabolic function, often yielding more cells than could be isolated from a healthy organ.

Hepatocyte lines were generated from patients from a number of ethnically diverse backgrounds, with the cells showing an identical toxicology response to primary human hepatocytes across 23 different drugs.

Although the genetic modifications preclude the use of these cells for transplantation, this could represent an ideal cell source for the development of bioartificial livers.

Professor Yaakov Nahmias, director of the Alexander Grass Center for Bioengineering at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said: "Our technology will enable thousands of laboratories to study fatty liver disease, viral hepatitis, drug toxicity and liver cancer at a fraction of the current cost."

There are more than 100 different types of liver disease, which together affect at least two million people in the UK alone.