Engineered “mini livers” could be injected as an alternative to transplantation

A technology developed by Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, SM ’93, PhD ’97, and colleagues could offer new hope to the thousands of Americans with chronic liver disease who are waiting for an organ transplant or not strong enough to tolerate one. The liver is involved in regulating blood clotting, removing bacteria from the bloodstream, metabolizing drugs, and more, and many of these essential functions are performed by specialized cells called hepatocytes. Bhatia’s lab has been working for a decade o