Growing heart valves from stem cells

Scientists in the U.K. have used stem cells harvested from bone marrow to create heart valve tissue. And they're pushing their work into animal studies this year in the hope that human clinical trials on valve transplants can begin in three years. The researchers grew the three-centimeter wide valves by exposing stem cells to chemicals, which spurred their differentiation into heart valve cells. The tissue was grown on a scaffold of collagen.

The research offers an organic alternative to the artificial heart valves that are currently used. Ultimately, the work could help point the way to creating entirely new hearts. The researchers at Imperial College London say that an organic valve is capable of changing to fit the physical needs of the patient. A valve created from stem cells would also be less likely to be rejected by the patient. Their report on the research will be published in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

- read the CBC report on the stem cell work
- and here's the report from New Scientist

ALSO: Researchers at the University of Michigan Medical School write in the new issue of the journal Regenerative Medicine that we're drawing steadily closer to "bioengineering" entire areas of the heart, as well as heart valves and major blood vessels. Release

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