LyGenesis

History

2024: Growing the liver right in the human body

In early April 2024, specialists from the biotechnology company LyGenesis announced the development of technology that allows you to grow mini-livers directly in the body of a living person. The method makes it possible to treat patients with hepatic impairment for whom, due to various reasons, transplantation of this organ is not available or impossible.

It is noted that in the United States alone, more than 50 thousand people die annually from liver diseases. At the end stage of ailments, the accumulated scar tissue does not allow the organ to filter toxic substances in the blood, which can lead to infection or malignant formation. Liver transplants can help, but there are not enough donor organs for everyone in need. And thousands of patients, in principle, cannot count on such a procedure because of their difficult condition. The new technique is expected to partially solve existing problems.

LyGenesis

The technology involves injecting healthy donor liver cells into the patient's body in the lymph node next to the main liver affected by the disease. After a few months, the cells begin to multiply, as a result of which a structure is formed that can perform the function of filtering blood that has been lost in the affected liver. According to doctors, the growth of the mini-liver stops after it stabilizes blood filtration.

At the same time, it is emphasized that the mini-liver formed in this way cannot get rid of all complications of the terminal stage of the patient's organ disease. But it can be a "temporary solution" - while a person is awaiting transplantation of a full-fledged donor liver. In the future, to form a mini-liver, the researchers intend to use the patient's own stem cells instead of donor ones to eliminate the need to take immunosuppressants.^[1]

Notes