Heart cells grown from stem cells
Cardiomyocytes
Stem cells have been used to create heart cells under lab conditions by researchers from the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine in Toronto.
By supplying the right growth factors at the right time, they encouraged the cells to grow into immature versions of three different types of cardiac cell.
The three cell types they created – cardiomyocytes, endothelial cells and vascular smooth muscle cells – are each important constituents of heart muscle.
Lead reseracher Dr Gordon Keller says
“The immediate impact of this is significant as we now have an unlimited supply of these cells to study how they develop, how they function and how they respond to different drugs. In the future, these cells may also be very effective in developing new strategies for repairing damaged hearts, following a heart attack.”
To see these heart cells in action, click on the following link to a BBC video
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7361250.stm
Elaine Warburton www.geneticsandhealth.com
Great article.
It’s such a shame that stem cells are a part of such controversy – sometimes big developments like this can get delayed or even overlooked
I’ve said it a million times and I will say it a million more:
“We aren’t funding this…WHY?”
But in all seriousness, this is remarkably interesting and inspiring.
It seems like we have been talking about the breakthrough of stem cell technology forever, but when is the medical community going to put it to use worldwide.