Artificial Beating Human Heart Created By Scientists To Better Understand The World’s Leading Cause Of Death
Scientists at The University of Queensland created an artificial beating human heart muscle. The heart, which was brought to life through stem cell samples in a laboratory, is the first “living” tissue the researchers will be able to study, according to a university news release.
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A video of the functional heart can be seen below.
It was created to help study disease, investigate heart repair, and test new drugs. The samples grown are not full size and measure about a centimeter long and millimeter wide, ABC Australia reported.
The heart tissue is also able to repair itself.
"In the laboratory we used dry ice to kill part of the tissue while leaving the surrounding muscle healthy and viable," Dr. James Hudson said in the release.
Usually, in normal adults this would create a “dead patch,” but these cells were able to regenerate, he notes.
The research is published in Circulation and Development.
Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death across the globe, according to the World Health Organization. This term refers to a group of disorders that affect your heart and blood vessels, including a heart attack and stroke. Many people have no symptoms, and therefore, suffering from a heart attack or stroke is often the first warning sign of disease.
Some of the risk factors include unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and alcohol and tobacco use.
