Scientists in Scotland are growing miniature human hearts, made from stem cells, in an effort to cure heart hypertrophy, a disease that can lead to sudden death.
The tiny hearts are just 1mm in diameter, and contract at around 30 beats/minute. The scientists are using chemicals to simulate the physiological conditions that will make them become hypertrophic – enlarged due to abnormal growth of the cells that make up the heart. Once diseased, the hearts are then treated with newly developed medications to see if they can prevent the damage from occurring.
American Medicine Today Radio spoke with Professor Nikolai Zhelev, who is leading the research at Abertay University. He explains how the hearts were developed, how they’re being used in this research, and what the implications are of the research for other medical discoveries.
