Researchers Using Ground-Breaking Stem Cell Technology to Test and Assess New Approaches to Disease

July 22, 2015

(Medical Xpress) – Scientists have successfully used stem cells to grow fully functional bile ducts in the lab, which could one day help prevent liver tissue damage. Bile ducts are vital to enabling the liver to dispose of waste; malfunctioning bile ducts are behind a significant proportion of all liver transplants (30 % for adults and 70 % for children). The treatment will next need to be extensively tested in clinical trials before it can be used on patients.