ESC 'patch' could heal heart attack damage

Scientists at London's Imperial College have developed a patch made from embryonic stem cells to repair damaged hearts. The team matured human heart cells in a lab dish and then created a patch out of biomaterials. They believe that by stitching or attaching the patch to a heart damaged during a heart attack, they can repair the heart muscle where oxygen deprived cells have died. The biomaterial is made to degrade quickly, with the patch preventing the familiar bulge of scarred tissue. "We really would like to cover the area of the infarct scar as much as possible, so it might be quite a large patch," Dr. Sian Harding said.

The team's next step will be to test the procedure on animals, with human trials underway in about five years. The scientists say they are also closely following the development of stem cells from skin tissue, which would dissolve much of the controversy that dogs embryonic stem cell work.

- check out the report from Heartzine

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