Assessing the potential of induced liver regeneration

Liver transplants are widely used to treat liver disease, but the limited availability of suitable livers has led to the investigation of alternative sources that rely on a regenerative approach. A recent study by Takebe et al.¹ describes the generation of a liver-like organ from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by transplanting liver buds that the authors had created in vitro. They showed that the transplanted tissue could vascularize and was able to carry out some liver-specific functions such as protein production and metabolism of drugs. We asked three experts for their view on this study and what it contributes to the field of liver regenerative research.