Grow your own organs - Scientists turn skin into liver cells

By Brandie Umar - Executive Director of Content | August 26th, 2010

Scientists at Cambridge University have made a breakthrough discovery which could change the lives of people suffering from liver disease. Taking skin from the armpit, scientists have altered the genetics to change skin into liver cells. Using chemical reactions to alter the skin samples, the healthy cells were turned into stem cells. Once the researchers had the stem cells or 'master cells', these were used to create liver cells.

For the research, scientists used skin cells taken from patients with pre-existing liver disease, generating another positive outcome from the study: the ability to analyse cells to determine why some people are more susceptible to liver disease than others. When the skin cells were manipulated to develop into liver cells, the cells contained the pre-existing liver conditions which allows doctors to study in depth the growth of the damaged cells. Understanding how liver disease develops and

what causes liver disease during cell growth could help with research to develop a treatment which would correct the damaged cells. If newly generated cells could be grown without the missing genetic defect causing liver disease, healthy livers grown using the patients own DNA could provide a cure to liver disease.

As the number of cases of liver disease continue to soar and the shortage of liver transplants becomes more problematic, this discovery is vital to developing treatment. It is estimated over 100,000 people are waiting for liver transplants.