Experimental Therapy Could Grow You Brand New Livers [Video]

An experimental liver-growing treatment is facing its biggest test in humans yet. This week, biotech company LyGenesis announced that it has just begun a phase II trial of its therapy designed to grow miniature livers inside a person’s lymph nodes. If the therapy works as hoped, it could potentially save the lives of many people with life-threatening liver disease who are unable to obtain a conventional transplant.

The treatment is currently called LYG-LIV-001. It’s derived from donated livers that otherwise wouldn’t be a match for any potential transplant recipient. Certain cells known as hepatocytes are collected from these livers and suspended in a solution. Using a combination of minimally invasive surgery and endoscopic ultrasound, the cells are then transplanted over to the recipient’s upper abdominal lymph nodes. From there, the lymph nodes are expected to act as living “bioreactors,” helping the hepatocytes grow and mature into functional, if ectopic (outside …