For the first time, British researchers have grown part of a human heart from stem cells extracted from bone marrow in the lab. Dr. Adrian Chester, was able to grow small discs of heart valve tissue with the help of scaffolding made of collagen. Later this year, this tissue will be implanted into animals to monitor its effectiveness.
Many people who suffer from heart valve disease have artificial replacements, which have limitations. Sir Magdi Yacoub, Professor of Cardiac Surgery at Imperial College in London, said, "The way a living valve functions, it anticipates haemodynamic events and responds and changes its shape and size. It's completely different from an artificial valve which will just open and shut." If the trials prove to be successful, Professor Yacoub predicts the heart valves will be implanted in patients within three to five years.
Fifteen million people died of cardiovascular disease in 2005. Replacement valves grown from ethical sources of stem cells could save many lives in the very near future.
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