Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Study Sheds Light on Genetic Basis of Heart Disease

9/17/2012 7:14:34 AM

The fate of an embryonic stem cell, which has the potential to become any type of body cell, is determined by a complex interaction of genes, proteins that bind DNA, and molecules that modify those genes and proteins. In a new paper, biologists from MIT and the University of California at San Francisco have outlined how those interactions direct the development of stem cells into mature heart cells. The study, the first to follow heart-cell differentiation over time in such detail, could help scientists better understand how particular mutations can lead to congenital heart defects. It could also assist efforts to engineer artificial heart tissue.

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