A person has undergone an experimental treatment for the first time that may allow them to grow an additional “miniature liver.” The procedure, developed by the biotechnology firm LyGenesis, initiates a clinical trial for individuals with liver failure who have not received a transplant.

In this innovative approach, researchers injected healthy liver cells from a donor into a lymph node in the upper abdomen of the patient. The goal is for the liver cells to multiply within the lymph node and form a structure that can perform the blood-filtering functions of the patient’s failing liver within several months.