05.04.2011, 15:20 5512

Scientists grow live heart in lab from stem cells

American researchers are growing human hearts in laboratories, which they believe could start beating within weeks, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Almaty. April 5. Kazakhstan Today - American researchers are growing human hearts in laboratories, which they believe could start beating within weeks, Kazakhstan Today reports.

In a major breakthrough for heart transplant availability, and for organ transplants in general, scientists have successfully grown a living heart from stem cells, Digital Journal reported.

For the millions of patients worldwide who are waiting for a heart transplant, a new breakthrough in stem cell cultivation promises a potential long-term solution to the challenge of shortages among available transplantable hearts and other organs.

Scientists have applied stem cells in a lab to grow a living human heart, according to a report in the Daily Mail on Monday.

With an estimated 5.8 million people in the United States alone experiencing heart failure, and new studies emerging on the impact of surgical intervention in many cases, according to the Columbus Dispatch, any increase in readily available hearts would have a dramatic impact on overall longevity.

The organs were created by removing muscle cells from donor organs to leave behind tough hearts of connective tissue.

Researchers then injected stem cells, which multiplied and grew around the structure, eventually turning into healthy heart cells.

Dr Doris Taylor, an expert in regenerative medicine at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis told the Daily Mail: 'The hearts are growing, and we hope they will show signs of beating within the next weeks'.

Patients given normal heart transplants must take drugs to suppress their immune systems for the rest of their lives. This can increase the risk of high blood pressure, kidney failure and diabetes. If new hearts could be made using a patient's own stem cells, it is less likely they would be rejected.

Photo: Daily Mail

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