Researchers are growing human hearts in test tubes with hopes of ending long waiting lists for transplants.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota in the US created the organs by “stripping” cells from the hearts of deceased people, leaving behind a tough protein skeleton, known as a ‘ghost heart’.
They then coated eight ‘ghost hearts’ with live human stem cells, which have started turning into heart cells.
The hearts have been growing steadily over the past few weeks, and researchers are hopeful they will start beating in the next seven days.
“The hearts are growing and we hope they will show signs of beating within the next week,” University of Minnesota study leader Doris Taylor told the American College of Cardiology’s annual meeting in New Orleans over the weekend.
“There are many hurdles to overcome to generate a fully functional heart, but the hope is that it may one day be possible to grow entire organs for transplant.”
Taylor’s research team have previously created several beating animal hearts.
Australian experts were thrilled to hear about the success of Taylor’s trials, but say the technology is likely to remain experimental for decades because the human heart is so complicated.
Your say: Do you think it’s exciting or eerie that beating human hearts are growing in US laboratories?
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