Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery with potential to transform medicine, specifically revolutionising heart treatment forever.
Researchers from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, have discovered a gene in the human heart that gets deactivated at the time of birth but can be reactivated and this breakthrough could provide a lifeline to millions of heart patients across the world.
When a person suffers a heart attack, certain muscle cells die. The heart does not possess the capability to replace the dead ones with new, thus forcing patients to rely on medicine, transplants, surgery or implant devices.
Since heart diseases are the most common causes of death worldwide, the discovery of the gene with capability to produce active, functioning cells after reactivation is a breakthrough moment for modern medicine.
Scientists discovered that injecting the gene back into middle-aged donor hearts kickstarted the cell-renewal and the team has proved that the process works on humans. Nearly over a decade ago they proved the trick worked in pigs.
Dr Hina Chaudhry, director of cardiovascular regenerative medicine at Mount Sinai, said, “The latest discovery has shifted the paradigm from managing symptoms to actually repairing the human heart.”
Scientists are hopeful that they will soon get approval from America’s Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to conduct the trials on actual heart patients.