Two new breakthroughs could one day help patients with damaged livers and diseased blood vessels live longer, healthier lives.

Three years ago, life threw Mari-jo Fraser a curve ball. Her liver was failing.

"It was just pure, acute liver failure. No reason, nothing at all," said Mari-Jo.

A liver transplant was the only way to save her life. But researchers at the University of Washington are working on another option. Scientists grow human liver stem cells and inject them into lab mice induced with liver damage. The stem cells replace thousands of dead liver cells. It's a technique that could someday repair severely damaged human livers.

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Breakthrough Lab Work

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"It could either be a permanent solution for them, or at least serve as a bridge until a transplantation can be done," said Dr. Nelson Fausto.

The stem cells can also be manipulated to repair bone, cartilage, and other damaged tissue in the body. Researchers involved in the Hope Heart program are growing artificial blood vessels that could replace damaged ones in the future.

"You can control the production of the structure of the vessel much more precisely and make it stronger," said Thomas Wright, lead researcher on the Heart Hope program.

Scientists take cells from tissue, grow them into sheets, then form them into tubes. They could help patients who have damaged blood vessels, or even those with clogged arteries.

"And it's like having a new vessel inserted rather than taking a vessel that's aged, for example, in another part of the body," said Dr. Wright.

Right now, both research projects are being tested in lab rats, but the researchers hope to start testing in humans within the next few years.