British team grows human heart valve from stem cells

British team grows human heart valve from stem cells

www.guardian.co.uk

A British research team led by the world's leading heart surgeon has grown part of a human heart from stem cells for the first time. If animal trials scheduled for later this year prove successful, replacement tissue could be used in transplants for the hundreds of thousands of people suffering from heart disease within three years.
Sir Magdi Yacoub, a professor of cardiac surgery at Imperial College London, has worked on ways to tackle the shortage of donated hearts for transplant for more than a decade. His team at the heart science centre at Harefield hospital have grown tissue that works in the same way as the valves in human hearts, a significant step towards the goal of growing whole replacement hearts from stem cells.

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This is really interesting and great news for alot of people suffereing from heart disease. I wonder what type of stem cells were used to grow the new valves since the article doesn't say. Hopefully news like this will silence the lunitics that are so steadfast against this advancement in medical technology that has the potential to save many lives.

www.guardian.co.uk
(visit the link for the full news article)