Mikhail Batin proposed distributed organs: adding functional capacity with modular tissue placed outside an organ’s usual location

Mikhail Batin proposed adding specific organ functions to the body through tissue modules

On August 9, Mikhail Batin presented the idea of “distributed organs.” Instead of growing an entire organ, he proposes testing whether a specific tissue can perform a measurable task: take a substance from the blood, transform it, and return the product to the bloodstream.

A single organ usually performs several tasks. Liver cells produce blood proteins, contribute to metabolism, and process drugs. Pancreatic islet cells sense glucose levels and secrete insulin. Some of these tasks depend on the organ’s complex structure, including ducts, fluid flow, or mechanical movement. Others primarily require access to the blood and the ability to respond to signals from the body.

In his post, Batin summarized the idea as follows:

“Restoring an organ’s function does not necessarily require restoring the organ itself.”

In his model, the first step is to select one function and measure how much additional functional reserve it could provide to the body. The next step is to define what the module takes from the blood, what it returns, and how it responds to signals from the body. The transplanted module would need to be monitored and, if necessary, removed because living tissue continues to change after transplantation.

Researchers have already tested individual elements of this approach. In an experiment in pigs, autologous hepatocytes, the main cells of the liver, were injected into mesenteric lymph nodes. After 30–60 days, all transplanted animals had developed hepatic tissue at these sites, with structures typical of the liver, including bile ducts.

In March, the INSITE system showed an island of liver tissue in a mouse’s adipose tissue: the human hepatocytes within it secreted albumin into the blood for eight weeks. That experiment tested whether liver tissue could function outside the liver. Batin asks a different question: which specific task from each organ could be transferred to a module.

A different type of module was studied in a trial of zimislecel, a therapy made from stem cell derived cells. The cells were infused into the portal vein of people with type 1 diabetes. All 14 participants followed for at least one year developed C-peptide, a marker of endogenous insulin production. Among the 12 participants who received the full dose, ten no longer required external insulin after one year. In this case, the cell module performs one regulated task: it responds to glucose by secreting insulin.

The first candidates are functions for which blood serves as both the input and the output. These include hormone secretion, protein synthesis, and some metabolic transformations. The kidney is a more complex case. In a 2026 study, a vascularized sheet of kidney tissue implanted into mice allowed some molecules to pass while retaining others. Full kidney function requires filtration, fluid processing in the tubules, regulation of salt levels, and urine drainage.

Batin proposes starting such a program with a function that has a measurable outcome: how much protein the additional liver tissue produces, how an islet module responds to glucose, how much demand an implant can withstand, and when it can be replaced safely. In this way, individual modules could provide the body with additional functional reserve before an entire organ fails.