"Heart attack damage repaired using gene therapy"

Scientists have discovered a cocktail of five genes can repair heart attack damage Photo: ALAMY

"Scarred heart tissue can be transformed into beating cells using a cocktail of five genes, according to a new study."

"Heart attacks cause cells in the affected area to stop beating and become encased in scar tissue, but researchers believe the damage may not be permanent.

Using a combination of genes they were able to coax the scar-forming cells into a state which closely resembles healthy, beating heart cells, suggesting the condition is reversible.

The scientists, from the Gladstone Institutes in America, had already demonstrated their technique on mice but have taken a step further by doing the same to human heart cells in a laboratory.

The study is a 'proof of concept' that the scar-forming cells, known as fibroblasts, 'can be reprogrammed successfully into beating heart cells,' and mend the heart from within, they said.

Dr Deepak Srivastava, who led the study, explained: 'Fibroblasts make up about 50 per cent of all cells in the heart and therefore make up a vast pool of cells that could one day be harnessed and reprogrammed to create new muscle.'" (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/10260701/Heart-attack-damage-repaired-using-gene-therapy.html)