British scientists have made a breakthrough in the search to repair damaged livers, it was announced last night.
They reported the first successful use of stem cells to restore function to a severely damaged liver.
The news came as it was announced that the number of transplant operations in the UK has been falling because of a fall in potential donors.
The experiment at Edinburgh University involved laboratory mice.
The researchers say it is the first time anyone has shown that stem cells can regrow the organ "to such an extent."
The news was published in the journal Nature Cell Biology.
Researcher Professor Stuart Forbes said: “Revealing the therapeutic potential of these liver stem cells brings us a step closer to developing stem cell based treatments for patients with liver disease. This is much needed as liver disease is a very common cause of death and disability for patients in the UK and the rest of the world.
"It will be some time before we can turn this into reality as we will first need to test our approach using human cells."
The news was welcomed by the UK Medical Research Council, which backed the research.
Director of science programmes Dr Rob Buckle said: “This research has the potential to revolutionise patient care by finding ways of co-opting the body’s own resources to repair or replace damaged or diseased tissue."
Hepatic progenitor cells of biliary origin with liver repopulation capacity. Nature Cell Biology 20 July 2015; doi: 10.1038/nbt.3275
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