Topic description and stories

Cholangiocyte organoids reconstruct human bile duct

Lab-grown ‘mini-bile ducts’ used to repair human livers in regenerative medicine first

18 Feb 2021

Scientists have used a technique to grow bile duct organoids – often referred to as ‘mini-organs’ – in the lab and shown that these can be used to...

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‘Mini liver tumours’ created in a dish for the first time

16 Nov 2017

Scientists have created mini biological models of human primary liver cancers, known as organoids, in the lab for the first time. In a paper...

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mage of a mouse gallbladder following repair with a bioengineered patch of tissue incorporating human 'bile duct' cells, shown in green. The human bile duct cells have fully repaired and replaced the damaged mouse epithelium

Artificial bile ducts grown in lab and transplanted into mice could help treat liver disease in children

03 Jul 2017

Cambridge scientists have developed a new method for growing and transplanting artificial bile ducts that could in future be used to help treat liver...

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Cambridge spin-out raises £7 million to develop treatments for lung disease

04 May 2017

A University of Cambridge spin-out company has raised £7 million in new funding, which will help in the development of treatments for liver and lung...

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Wash cycle: making organs fit for transplantation

20 Jul 2016

There’s a nationwide shortage of suitable organs for transplanting – but what if some of those organs deemed ‘unsuitable’ could be rejuvenated...

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‘Mini-bile ducts’ at day 25, stained with fluorescent dyes

'Mini bile ducts' help identify new drugs that could prevent the need for liver transplantation

16 Jul 2015

An experimental cystic fibrosis drug has been shown to prevent the disease’s damage to the liver, thanks to a world-first where scientists grew mini...

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Testing time for stem cells

Testing time for stem cells

23 Oct 2014

DefiniGEN is one of the first commercial opportunities to arise from Cambridge’s expertise in stem cell research. Here, we look at some of the...

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Mini-livers show promise to reduce animal use in science

26 Feb 2014

Cambridge research that has for the first time successfully grown “mini-livers” from adult mouse stem cells has won the UK’s international prize for...

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Stem cell breakthrough could set up future transplant therapies

10 Oct 2013

A new method for developing stem cells enables the production of liver and pancreatic cells in “clinically relevant” quantities for the first time...

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Confocal microscopy showing mutant A1AT as green inclusions within a cell

New collaboration to develop treatments for liver disease

07 Sep 2012

A new collaboration based at the University of Cambridge will aim to discover and develop new medicines to treat liver disease.

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Stem cells

Teaching old cells new tricks

24 Apr 2012

Much hyped by the media, stem cells have tremendous power to improve human health. As part of the Cambridge Stem Cell Initiative, Dr Ludovic Vallier’...

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Human liver cells

Consortium finds chronic liver cirrhosis clues

21 Mar 2011

Researchers have provided new clues into the genetics underlying a chronic form of liver disease, called primary biliary cirrhosis, which can lead to...

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