In 1966, Blumberg’s lab set out to characterize723 the aboriginal antigen in greater detail. He soon noted an odd correlation: individuals carrying the Au antigen often suffered from chronic hepatitis, an inflammation of the liver. These inflamed livers, studied pathologically, showed signs of chronic cycles of injury and repair—death of cells in some pockets and compensatory attempts to repair and regenerate liver cells in others, resulting in scarred, shrunken, and burnt-out livers, a condition termed chronic cirrhosis.
