Stem Cell Team Aims for Spare Heart Parts in 5 Years

Stem cell researchers in Hong Kong and the United States are trying to grow spare parts for the human heart that may be ready for tests on people within five years, they said on Thursday.

Scientists have already made basic heart muscle from stem cells, but the Hong Kong-led team wants to refine it so it can replace any part damaged in heart attacks, and to recreate the natural pacemaker, where the heartbeat originates.

"When you get a heart attack, there is a small time window for a cure when the damage is still small. You can cure with a patch, a small tissue, so you won't progress to late stage heart failure," said team leader Ronald Li, dire they will transplant parts of the heart that are grown using the patients' own stem cells in about five years.

"The question is whether we can put it in the heart to integrate with the recipient organ. Even if it becomes integrated, will it last?" Li said.

He added that the team chose to use pigs because porcine hearts were anatomically and functionally more similar to human hearts. Read More