Technology used to make Covid vaccines is now being used to help regenerate organs damaged from heart attacks.
Scientists at King’s College London have identified genetic codes called mRNAs which produce proteins to generate healthy new heart cells.
The same technology was used in the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines and the ground-breaking research could lead to the world’s first ‘cure’ for heart attacks, according to reports.
About 100,000 people are admitted to UK hospitals every year after a heart attack which occurs when the blood supply to the heart is blocked, killing up to one billion heart cells.
As the human heart is unable to repair itself, a permanent scar remains after a heart attack and can often lead to debilitating and potentially fatal heart failure.
Professor Mauro Giacca, lead researcher, told , The Times : “We are all born with a set number of muscle cells in our heart and they are exactly the same ones we will die with. The heart has no capacity to repair itself after a heart attack. Our goal has been to find a treatment that can convince surviving cells to proliferate.
“Regenerating a damaged human heart has been a dream until a few years ago, but can now become a reality.
“We are using exactly the same technology as the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to inject micro RNAs to the heart, reaching surviving heart cells and pushing their proliferation. The new cells would replace the dead ones and instead of forming a scar, the patient has new muscle tissue.”
The team of researchers, based at the British Heart Foundation Centre for Research Excellence at King’s, is also developing a treatment to prevent cells from dying during a heart attack.
Scientists believe the new RNA (ribonucleic acid) therapy could have a significant impact on cardiovascular medicine and stop millions of heart attack victims from developing heart failure.
The approach has been used to regenerate damaged pig hearts and is set to begin human trials within two years.
