Soon we may no longer needimplant cardiac simulators to allow disordered hearts to beat normally. American researchers have rightly cherished this hope since they have just created a biological pacemaker on pigs with a deficient heart rate. “The cardiac simulator was able to cure a disease”, congratulate the scientists in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
How could this pacemaker be reproduced without a battery? A gene has been injected into pigs suffering from heart disease responsible for a slower heartbeat. This gene has transformed some of the billions of ordinary heart cells into rarer, specialized cells to restore a normal heart rhythm.
For two weeks, the gene played the role of a conventional pacemaker without any side effects being observed elsewhere. “We were able for the first time to create a biological pacemaker using the minimum of invasive methods. The aim is to show that this prototype biological pacemaker is suitable for the constraints of everyday life, “said Dr Eduardo Marban, who led the study.” It is possible that one day we will be able to save lives by replacing software with an injection of genes “.
Years of research are still necessary before imagining the use in humans of these new version pacemakers. The electronic pacemaker still has a bright future ahead of it.
Do you think that in the future classic pacemakers will become obsolete? Have your say on the forum.
