Artificial liver for pharmacologists
Scientists have grown a human liver for pharmacological research
Medical news based on the materials of News-Medical.Net: Artificial liver for drug testsGerman scientists have created a liver model for pharmacological research.
The research work was carried out by Professor Heike Mertsching and Dr. Johanna Schanz from the Fraunhofer Institute for Interdisciplinary Engineering and Biotechnology in Stuttgart.
A feature of the development of German specialists is the functioning circulatory system of this model. To create it, scientists used blood vessels of pigs' intestines, on which they then grew cultures of liver cells – hepatocytes.
After that, the researchers used a bioreactor to attach the created organ model to a system of flexible tubes. Through these tubes, a special pump delivers solutions of the studied substances to the cells of the artificial liver in the same way as it happens in the human body.
According to Dr. Schantz, the cells of the artificial organ remained active for three weeks. This time is sufficient to study the processes occurring with the substances under study when they enter the liver. Scientists believe that the created model will allow to abandon animal experiments within two years.
British biologist Kelly BeruBe has developed a similar lung model, which is designed to study the toxic properties of volatile substances. The model is a hollow plastic balls with a diameter of half a millimeter, covered from the inside with living lung tissue.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru/29.06.2009