Source: Ties van Brussel / tiesworks.nl The liver is a large organ on the right side of the abdomen, above the stomach and below the lungs and diaphragm. It is protected by the rib cage. Adult livers generally weigh between 3 and 3 1/2 pounds and are reddish-brown in color. The liver is roughly triangular in shape and has two large sections: a larger right lobe and a smaller left lobe. The gallbladder, pancreas and intestines sit under the liver. The liver and these organs work together to digest, absorb, and process food. Source: Anatomy & Physiology, Connexions Web site. http://cnx.org/content/col11496/1.6/ Unlike most organs, the liver has two major sources of blood. The portal vein brings in nutrient-rich blood from the gastrointestinal tract, and the hepatic artery carries oxygen-rich blood from the heart. The blood vessels branch into small capillaries, with each ending in a lobule. The lobes of the liver are divided into roughly 100,000 liver lobules, where the vital functions of the liver are carried out. A typical lobule is 6 sided (hexagonal) and roughly 1mm in diameter. Each lobule consists of numerous cords of rectangular liver cells, called hepatocytes, that radiate from central veins toward the connective tissue that separates the different lobules. The plates of hepatocytes are one cell thick and separated by sinusoids, hepatic capillaries that give the hepatocytes direct access to the bloodstream.