OREANDA-NEWS Scientists at the University of Michigan have created human mini-hearts to study human heart development and birth defects. This is reported in an article published in the journal Nature Communications.

The organoids were developed using donor pluripotent adult stem cells to simulate some aspects of intrauterine pregnancy. The mini-hearts produced using this developmental induction strategy are remarkably similar to the hearts of a human embryo of the appropriate age.

It has also been shown that organoids exhibit some of the features of cardiac development found in the primitive heart after the cardiac tube stage.

This system is suitable for modeling diseases, as well as studying the effects of drugs prescribed for pregnant women and in the case of congenital heart defects. According to the authors, the results represent a significant technical advance in the development of an artificial heart and provide a powerful tool for modeling heart disease.