Sunday, January 16, 2005
From the January 8, 2005 issue of Science News:
Beat Generation: Genetically modified stem cells repair heart
Tissue engineers have for the first time used genetically modified human stem cells to repair damaged hearts in guinea pigs.
In experiments on guinea pigs, scientists have used genetically modified human embryonic stem cells to make a biological pacemaker. The implanted tissue has kept the guinea pig hearts beating after their natural pacemaker cells were destroyed. ... Unlike battery-powered pacemakers, says Li, stem cell-based pacemakers speed up or slow down in response to drugs that alter normal heart rate. ... His group [he's based at Johns Hopkins] has already learned how to genetically alter human pacemaker cells to fine-tune their firing rates. Adjusting the firing rate could be important because ordinary pacemaker cells beat slowly when implanted. The heart's natural pacemaker is a complex mixture of several cell types, Li says, so it's difficult to mimic its function with any single, unmodified cell type.
Beat Generation: Genetically modified stem cells repair heart
Tissue engineers have for the first time used genetically modified human stem cells to repair damaged hearts in guinea pigs.
In experiments on guinea pigs, scientists have used genetically modified human embryonic stem cells to make a biological pacemaker. The implanted tissue has kept the guinea pig hearts beating after their natural pacemaker cells were destroyed. ... Unlike battery-powered pacemakers, says Li, stem cell-based pacemakers speed up or slow down in response to drugs that alter normal heart rate. ... His group [he's based at Johns Hopkins] has already learned how to genetically alter human pacemaker cells to fine-tune their firing rates. Adjusting the firing rate could be important because ordinary pacemaker cells beat slowly when implanted. The heart's natural pacemaker is a complex mixture of several cell types, Li says, so it's difficult to mimic its function with any single, unmodified cell type.
