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Heart has cellular regeneration ability

Post-attack, prodding stem cells can produce new tissue

By Tina Hesman Saey

- More than 2 years ago

Broken hearts may be able to mend themselves.

A newly made heart cell (red) derived from a stem cell in the heart muscle lining inserts into heart muscle (green) damaged by a heart attack. The black areas mark where cells have died. P. Riley/University College London

Given the right biochemical motivation, stem cells in a thin layer of cells lining the outside of the heart muscle can replace a small number of the cells damaged by a heart attack, an international group of scientists reports online June 8 in Nature.