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Therapy that turns lymph nodes into livers gets first human trial

An experimental therapy that grows miniature livers inside a person’s lymph nodes has been used in a human for the first time, but it will be months before we know if it fully replaces their liver function

By Grace Wade

2 April 2024

Solution with the hepatocytes (liver cells) in suspension

LyGenesis

For the first time, a person has received an experimental treatment to transform one of their lymph nodes into a functioning miniature liver. We won’t know for months whether the therapy works, but if it does, it could revolutionise the treatment of liver disease.

“This is a technology that could, in just the next few years, potentially eliminate the wait list for liver transplants,” says Michael Hufford at LyGenesis, a biotechnology company in Pennsylvania.

Eric…

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