Researchers at the university of minnesota seeking new treatments for heart disease have grown a beating rat heart in the lab by using stem cells.
If perfected on larger hearts it could create a potentially unlimited supply of needed organs and the researchers say use of a patients own stem cells would ensure that a bio artificial heart is compatible with his or her immune system. So over time the human cells would replace that matrix and you would essentially have an equivalent of a human heart. Taylor says these ghost hearts or scaffolds were re populated by infusing them with progenitor cells that have a capacity for self renewal and differentiation much like stem cells. Pig valves are already used to replace diseased heart valves in humans. Experts say there are an estimated million people around the world whose hearts do not work well enough to pump blood through their bodies.
If perfected on larger hearts it could create a potentially unlimited supply of needed organs and the researchers say use of a patients own stem cells would ensure that a bio artificial heart is compatible with his or her immune system. So over time the human cells would replace that matrix and you would essentially have an equivalent of a human heart. Taylor says these ghost hearts or scaffolds were re populated by infusing them with progenitor cells that have a capacity for self renewal and differentiation much like stem cells. Pig valves are already used to replace diseased heart valves in humans. Experts say there are an estimated million people around the world whose hearts do not work well enough to pump blood through their bodies.
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