Gene Therapy Gets a Heartbeat

Heart failure is one of the major killers in the Western world, but scientists think they may have found a way to get the organ beating again in some cases. Gene therapy may be the key.

According to a study published in the American Heart Association's journal Circulation, researchers have found that inserting extra genes into heart muscle cells can "persuade" them to recapture their pumping abilities. In other words, heart failure could be reversible.

The technique uses a gene called SERCA2a to tell cells to produce a protein that is involved in controlling the contraction of the heart muscle. Researchers at Imperial College in London and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston found that within 24 hours of receiving the gene, cells from a failing heart began beating at levels that were close to normal.

Existing treatments for heart failure -- mainly medications such as ACE inhibitors and beta blockers -- slow the progression of heart failure but do not stop it. The only current cure, for which most patients are ineligible, is a heart transplant.

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