3D miniature livers lead the way to patient-specific drug discovery

Researchers have developed a reproducible method for creating multicellular miniature liver organoids from pluripotent stem cells. Steatohepatitis, a liver disease involving inflammation, fat accumulation and fibrosis, was triggered in these miniature livers. They also established sick liver organoids using patient-derived stem cells. Two different treatments alleviated the symptoms, proving that this model can be used for investigating patient-specific disease mechanisms and for drug testing and discovery.