Stem cells grow heart tissue in lab (USA)

Researchers report a major step toward the goal of literally rebuilding a broken heart - creating a strip of working heart muscle in the laboratory by using a newly identified human cardiac master stem cell. "This work moves us closer to heart stem cell therapy," said Dr. Kenneth Chien, director of the Massachusetts General Center for Cardiovascular Research, a member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and leader of a group reporting the work online October 15 in Science. That therapy, he said, would be "almost like slapping a Band-Aid on the heart." - HealthDay