Human Heart Grown From Stem Cells, from Dr. Janice Dorn
The following is excerpted from an article in The New Scientist.
Part of a human heart has been grown from stem cells for the first time, a UK research team has announced. The small discs of tissue could represent the first step towards building a whole heart from stem cells.
Animal trials are planned for later this year and, if successful, replacement tissue could be used in transplants for people suffering from heart disease within three years, they said.
"Like everything published ahead of time, it's hard to work out exactly what they've done," said Stephen Minger, a stem cell scientist at King's College London in the UK. Yacoub told the newspaper that similar valves could be fitted in patients within five years, but it would take at least 10 years to build an entire heart.