Editing Hepatitis C (section)

=== Animal models ===
One barrier to finding treatments for {{nowrap|hepatitis C}} is the lack of a suitable animal model. Despite moderate success, research highlights the need for pre-clinical testing in mammalian systems such as [[mouse]], particularly to develop vaccines in poorer communities. [[Common chimpanzee|Chimpanzees]] remain the only living system to study, yet their use has ethical concerns and regulatory restrictions. While scientists have used human cell culture systems such as hepatocytes, questions have been raised about their accuracy in reflecting the body's response to infection.<ref name=Sand2013>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sandmann L, Ploss A | title = Barriers of hepatitis C virus interspecies transmission | journal = Virology | volume = 435 | issue = 1 | pages = 70–80 | date = January 2013 | pmid = 23217617 | pmc = 3523278 | doi = 10.1016/j.virol.2012.09.044 }}</ref>

One aspect of hepatitis research is to reproduce infections in mammalian models. A strategy is to introduce liver tissues from humans into mice, a technique known as xenotransplantation. This is done by generating chimeric mice and exposing the mice to HCV infection. This engineering process is known to create humanized mice and provide opportunities to study hepatitis C within the 3D architectural design of the liver and evaluate antiviral compounds.<ref name=Sand2013 /> Alternatively, generating inbred mice with susceptibility to HCV would simplify the process of studying mouse models.