Are stem cells in the heart evolutionary leftovers or clues to renewal?
FOR centuries, says Associate Professor Chris Semsarian of the Centenary Institute, the heart had been thought of as an “end organ”. “You were born with a number of heart cells and if you damaged them during life, that was it, you could never replace them, unlike skin, which regenerates when you injure it. “But in the last five years there’s been the discovery of cells in the heart that sit around and only get activated if there’s an injury to the heart. So that’s given the notion that stem cells could in fact grow new heart muscle. Scientists are starting to inject stem cells into hearts at times of heart attacks.” Professor Garry Jennings, at the Baker Institute, says it is a “whole new paradigm” for heart researchers. “Now we know there are little colonies of natural stem cells in heart muscle. They’re not there to repair the catastrophic damage of a heart attack. In fact they’re probably left over from evolution. But what we’ve got to do is find some way of turning them on; find wh
