What does the cleanest heart look like? Medical Research Institute has over a hundred
In the laboratory of the Texas Heart Institute (THI), a small human sized heart hangs in a bioreactor - white, without blood or cells, only a natural extracellular matrix scaffold remains.
Taylor is the director of regenerative medicine research at THI, and she has created over 100 such "ghost hearts" - she plans to inject billions of stem cells into each heart, connect them to artificial lungs and blood pumps, and observe their growth. She believes that ultimately scientists will use this technology to create customized organs for human heart transplantation using patients' own stem cells. This may mean an end to organ shortages and anti rejection drugs, as well as advancements in cardiovascular surgery.