Lab-Grown Heart Stem Cells Are Used On Patients For The First Time In History

Japanese researchers have had the first success in transplanting steam cells grew in lab to a patient, paving the way for a future when we can rely less on heart transplants.

To grow these cells, experts at Osaka University first reprogram adult stem cells to turn them back to the embryonic-like state. After this step, the researchers can make the cells into whatever they need, and in this particular case, heart stem cells.

To add these cells to the damaged part of the patient’s heart, the experts put the stem cells on a degradable sheet. The patient in this first surgery is a victim of ischemic cardiomyopathy, a condition when the heart fails to pump the needed amount of blood because its muscles do not get enough itself.

The most common treatment for ischemic cardiomyopathy is a heart transplant but the researchers of Osaka University hope that the lab-grown stem cell method can be an alternative. Theoretically, the added cells are expected to regenerate blood vessels, thus enhancing the overall function of the organ.

The patient is the first of ten who will go under trial for the next three years. While the operation went well, one more year of monitoring still required for the research.

If the method proves to be viable, it can replace a full transplant, which involves patients waiting for years for a suitable donor and a huge cost.

The new method is more promising than a transplant as growing stem cells in lab is easier than finding a donor, and the chance of the patient’s body rejecting the cells is also minimized.

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