Health aNd Fitness Guide

Scientists from the University of Minnesota have created a new heart in the laboratory using hearts of dead rats. The study, published in Nature Medicine, could bring hope for patients whose heart muscles have been damaged.

Using a process called ‘decellularisation’ scientists removed the insides of a dead rat’s heart, leaving only the outer layer. “We took a rat heart and used soap to wash out the cells”, said Doris Taylor, lead author of the study. The team then injected heart cells from newborn rats into the outer layers of the stripped heart and used a pacemaker to ‘teach’ the new cells to beat. In four days, it started contracting.

The breakthrough also gives hope to those waiting for heart transplant. The process could be used on other organs too, Taylor said.