EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -When a portion of the liver is removed, the liver’s cells divide and regrow the lost tissue within days, growing to almost 100 percent of its original size within six to eight weeks.

Detailed explanation-2: -Normal liver weight is reestablished within 5–7 days (8–15 days in humans). At the end of regeneration, the size of the liver lobules is remarkably larger and the thickness of the hepatocyte plates is almost twice the size of the normal one cell thickness (Michalopoulos and DeFrances, 1997).

Detailed explanation-3: -After a wound or other damage, all the cells in the liver change and divide until the normal size of the liver is restored. This interesting process is commonly known as “liver regeneration.” If the injury to the liver is so serious that the liver cannot regenerate, a person may need a new liver, that is, a transplant.

Detailed explanation-4: -The whole process of regeneration is completed in three phases, i.e., priming (increased capacity of hepatocytes to replicate), proliferation (attainment of required functional cell mass) and termination (end of proliferation)[5, 6].