Humanized Mice Make Better Models

Mice with miniature human livers more accurately test a drug’s toxic side effects.

Written byJef Akst

| 2 min read

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WIKIMEDIA COMMONS, POLARQUEEN

Mice with implanted 20-millimetre-long artificial human livers break down toxins in a way that is closer to how humans do it than traditional lab mice, according to a study published this week (July 11) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This insight can provide researchers with better models for testing drug toxicity.

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology grew the tiny human livers by seeding plastic scaffolds with mouse fibroblasts, human hepatocytes, and human liver endothelial cells. They then implanted the artificial organs into mice. Testing the animals with drugs known to be metabolized differently in mice and humans, the humanized mice performed much more like humans than normal mice. Despite the fact that the implants only contained about 500,000 human ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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