Test Problems

Sometimes our true character is only revealed when we face real adversity. It’s hard to draw conclusions if you only see a sunny scenario. And we can only learn so much about tackling disease if our experiments are based exclusively on healthy cells and tissues. Lab-based models of the human liver – collections of cells that simulate the real thing – are essential to research into liver function, but existing models don’t represent diseased livers as well as healthy ones. A study has developed an improved model (pictured) with increased cell-cell interactions, longer-term stability, and a supportive scaffold (green) formed of a hydrogel. Liver cells (pink) in this model better mimic those in the body, with clear differences between healthy and diseased scenarios, providing a valuable platform for investigating not just healthy biology, but the mechanics – and potential treatments – of disease.

Written by Anthony Lewis

Anthony Lewis

Writer

Ant was the web editor in the early days of BPoD, and has since worked with the UK’s top science organisations as a writer and multimedia producer. He now splits his time between freelance work and managing multimedia at The Lancet.

Website

• Image from work by Alex J Wang and colleagues
• Biological Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
• Research published in Advanced NanoBiomed Research, November 2021