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14 February 2013

Heart Moving

It’s cells within your heart, moving rhythmically like these, that ensure your heart pounds as you open that longed-for Valentine’s card. Heart muscle cells (cardiomyocytes) work together to create the two and a half billion heartbeats it takes to pump blood around our body during a lifetime. They are the body’s natural pacemakers. But if the heart malfunctions, or is damaged by a heart attack they can lose the beat, causing heart conditions called arrhythmia. Artificial pacemakers can help restore rhythm, but in future, the cells pictured might be setting the pace. They are heart stem cells, programmed in the lab to behave like cardiomyocytes. And like cardiomyocytes in the heart, each ‘beat’ is produced as electrical signals fired off between neighbouring cells, keeping them moving as one. Scientists hope that one day, such cells can be moved to get failing hearts back into the beat.

Written by Caroline Cross

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BPoD stands for Biomedical Picture of the Day. Managed by the MRC Laboratory of Medical Sciences until Jul 2023, it is now run independently by a dedicated team of scientists and writers. The website aims to engage everyone, young and old, in the wonders of biology, and its influence on medicine. The ever-growing archive of more than 4000 research images documents over a decade of progress. Explore the collection and see what you discover. Images are kindly provided for inclusion on this website through the generosity of scientists across the globe.

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