Generating hope through heart cell regeneration

THE WELSH are leading the way with research related to regenerating damaged heart tissue. If successful, the results could lead to new treatments for heart failure, giving hope to patients of incurable heart disease.

A team of scientists from Cell Therapy Limited are testing their experiments at Cardiff and Swansea university laboratories. Nobel prize-winning scientist Sir Martin Evans, who first began isolating and growing embryonic stem cells in the 1980s, co-founded the research team.

The current research has identified what Cell Therapy Limited’s executive director Ajan Reginald says is “a very potent stype of stem cell which is heart specific.” The hope is that the therapy will produce a large number of cells whose job will be to regenerate the section of the heart suffering damage. The health research company said early stem cell trial results “look very positive.”