Gene Therapy to Heal Scar Tissue

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in collaboration with Baylor College of Medicine and Stony Brook University Medical Center have come up with a new way to heal the scar tissue using gene therapy. The researchers have identified a combination of three genes which can repair the scar tissue into healthy and functioning heart muscle. Lead author Dr Todd Rosengart from BCM said that doctors can easily heal the scar tissue in patients who experience a massive heart attack by simply injecting the three genes into the scar tissue. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

“The theory is that if you have a big heart attack, your doctor can just inject these three genes into the scar tissue during surgery and change it back into heart muscle. However, in these animal studies, we found that even the effect is enhanced when combined with the VEGF gene”, Rosengart said.

Source-Medindia