In fact, there have been reports from the science journal Circulation Research that claim that researchers have already developed a throbbing human heart amidst stem cells.
It is important to note that previous experiments had all been about making 3D models of the human heart, by dividing it into segments and parts. The models were all made of biological material, and although not pumping blood, they were perfect for someone trying to base an understanding of what could be.
Then the scientists combined this with stem cells, and voila! Researchers from both Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital were involved in this, and the results they have found are outstanding.
Heart transplant in itself is a very complex surgery. It also leads to many complications, one of which being the body rejecting the transplanted heart. And that would be fatal in any circumstance. To prevent that, patients usually have to take hard medication to ensure that their immunity is severely depleted. But it can open doors to other illnesses.
To study this phenomenon, and possibly bring out measures to stop it, scientists first washed 73 hearts (rejected) with a detergent that would help clean out any cell that could initiate self-destruction. At the end of it, they had with them a 3D heart, complete with arteries, veins, and capillaries, but no cells to function.
The stem cells that the research was conducted on, is a pluripotent stem cell. These have the ability to turn into every nerve, bone, and tissue used in a body. Firstly, the human skin was converted into pluripotent stem cells, which were then later converted into heart cells, by soaking it in a solution filled with nutrients. The cells grew in and around the ‘scaffold’.
In a couple of weeks, the cells were a part of a static heart which started beating when electricity was passed through. As was reported, the body considered the cells to be friendly, as most of them were taken from the host itself.