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Health

Why I’m growing bits of human intestine in a dish in the lab

By Vivian Li

17 July 2019

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

First up, do you have a telescope?

I have a microscope instead. Rather than looking into the universe, I look into our organs and cells to understand how our bodies function and how diseases develop.

As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?

It changed all the time. I wanted to be a medical doctor after watching ER and then I wanted to be an FBI agent after watching The X-Files.

Explain what you do in one easy paragraph.

I try to understand how stem cells function and regenerate, and how cancers develop. More…

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