Growing heart tissues to trial a radical therapy
Sydney cardiologist and researcher Professor Eddy Kizana is on a mission to fix ‘unlucky genes’ in people born with impaired hearts. With the backing of the Foundation and ABAL Banking, he’s moving gene therapy for genetic heart disease toward human application.
Eddy and his Cardiac Gene Therapy Group at Westmead Institute for Medical Research have already developed genetically modified viruses to carry the repair kit. Now, they’re growing personalised models of genetic heart disease in a dish, to trial it. More below
Take a deep dive into the work of 2024 Metcalf Prize winner, Dr Rhiannon Werder from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. She talks about growing ‘mini-lungs’ to find treatments to help kids breathe easier in a Bench Side Story film released on United Nations International Day of Women and Girls in Science (11 February). View here.
Watch a recording of the recent ‘Making cancer treatment worth it’ public forum in Adelaide, hosted by ABC Radio National broadcaster Natasha Mitchell. More below
‘Why some cell treatments are banned in Australia’ is a topic expertly tackled by Foundation board member Professor Megan Munsie on The Briefing podcast. Listen here.
And in stem cell news from around the world: how human mini-brains launched into space thrived in an unexpected way; scientists develop a patch that can repair damaged hearts; why blocking nerve signals could be key to treating pancreatic cancer; and more in our regular news highlights round-up.
Kind regards,
Dr Graeme L Blackman AO
Chairman, National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia
In this bulletin:
- Growing heart tissues to trial a radical therapy
- Watch: Making cancer treatment worth it event
- Stem cell news from around the world
Growing heart tissues to trial a radical therapy
About 400,000 Australians have inherited and incurable cardiovascular disease. While some experience no symptoms, for others it can lead to sudden cardiac death or heart failure requiring a heart transplant.
Treatments include implanting devices to keep the heart in tune. But the surgery is invasive and is repeated every decade or so to change the batteries.
A potential cure would be to replace the faulty genes in your heart. One approach is to use modified viruses to infect the damaged heart cells and replace or repair the damaged DNA.
The technology has huge potential. But, to test its safety and efficacy you need to work with real human heart from patients with the genetic condition. That’s impossible to do safely and ethically, until now.
Professor Eddy Kizana and his Cardiac Gene Therapy Group at Westmead Institute for Medical Research, have already developed genetically modified adeno-associated viruses (rAAV) that can carry the genetic repair kit.
Now, with the backing of the Foundation and ABAL Banking, through a $100,000 Matched Funding Program grant, they’re using patient-derived stem cells to create personalised models of genetic heart disease in a dish. This involves using slices of pig heart, which have all the living cells removed, leaving behind a scaffold on which human heart muscle cells can grow.
Eddy and his team are about six months away from being able to start testing efficacy of the virus vectors on models of genetic heart disease in a dish.
Read more about Eddy and his research.
Watch: Making cancer treatment worth it event
Cancer treatment can save or extend lives, but treatment can be very difficult for patients and come at a high financial cost for the healthcare system.
How is treatment changing? How do we minimise serious side effects? And how do we help people who are suffering (and their loved ones) have reasonable expectations and make informed choices?
Three of Australia’s top stem cell researchers answered these questions and more in a recent public forum, Making cancer treatment worth it, hosted by ABC Radio National broadcaster Natasha Mitchell.
Watch the video to hear from:
- Professor Mark Dawson on understanding and treating blood cancers, such as leukaemia.
- Associate Professor David Elliott on reducing the damaging side effects of anti-cancer drugs on the hearts of children undergoing life-saving chemotherapy.
- Professor Megan Munsie on patient experiences and reducing the risks of unproven stem cell treatments and medical tourism.
This event was hosted by the Australasian Society of Stem Cell Research (ASSCR) and the University of Adelaide/South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute, and supported by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia as part of its mission to provide community education. The public event was held in conjunction with the ASSCR 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting.
Stem cell news from around the world
Between newsletters, we share stem cell news on social media:
Here are a few stories we’ve shared recently:
The Briefing: Foundation board member Professor Megan Munsie talks to Chris Spyrou on one of Australia’s leading daily news podcasts on ‘Why some stem cell treatments are banned in Australia’.
Inside Precision Medicine: Blocking nerve signals could be key to treating pancreatic cancer.
New Scientist: Mini-brains have been fused to resemble that of a 40-day-old fetus.
The Guardian: Scientists develop patch that can repair damaged hearts.
Psychology Today: Could language models be the stem cells of thought?
The Guardian: Technology for lab-grown eggs or sperm on brink of viability, UK fertility watchdog finds.
Science Daily: Discovery of new skeletal tissue advances regenerative medicine potential.
Science: Fish implanted with tumour cells could help oncologists quickly personalize cancer treatments.
Science Alert: Human mini-brains launched into space thrived in an unexpected way.
The Scientist: Scientists get to the heart of blood formation, tweaking heart-forming organoids to produce blood cells.
Nature: What’s the secret to living to 100? Centenarian stem cells could offer clues.
ABC Radio Melbourne and Cosmos magazine: Interviews with one of the Foundation’s two 2024 Metcalf Prize winners, Dr Rhiannon Werder, from Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
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