'Humanized' Mice to Aid Drug Testing

You've heard of scientists testing drugs on mice — but what if those mice were part human? MIT researchers have developed an artificial liver that can be transplanted into mice, allowing them to metabolize drugs as if they were human beings. This could foster more accurate and efficient drug testing.

In order to create this liver, researchers cultured hepatocytes — human liver cells — in a controlled environment with other factors, such as mouse skin cells. The team then implanted the artificial liver under the skin or inside the body cavity of mice, successfully recreating many of the functions of a human liver.

'Humanized' Mice to Aid Drug Testing - Yahoo! News