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	Podcast:		UC Science Today
	Episode:		The importance of mouse models in liver research
	Category:		Science & Medicine
	Duration:		00:01:04
	Publish Date:		2016-07-27 19:00:00
	Description:		Researchers are now able to turn one cell type into another within the body of a mouse. But how can they make sure these changes happen in the right spot? To track the transformation of diseased liver cells into healthy ones, study leader Milad Rezvani of the University of California, San Francisco used a special kind of transgenic, or genetically altered, mouse model. "We focused primarily on one transgenic model that labels this cell type that is the main culprit in liver cirrhosis. So when we reprogrammed this cirrhosis-causing cell type into liver cells, it would maintain this label. We really knew where this cell was coming from." Although the cell transformation materials sent into the mouse ended up in some other places, like a few muscle cells, Rezvani says the amounts were negligible. More importantly, the mice revealed new patches of healthy liver tissue. "That’s why mice are extremely important, still, to not only understand disease, but to find new therapeutic approaches."
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