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CRISPR-edited cells could help people survive chronic heart failure

Injecting gene-edited heart cells into rats with damaged hearts kept more of them alive and had them exercising for longer – and tests in humans could start in 2025

By Carissa Wong

20 May 2023

3D illustration of a human heart

Human heart stem cells have been used to improve symptoms of chronic heart failure in rats

magicmine/iStockphoto/Getty Images

A dose of CRISPR-edited heart cells has boosted the survival of rats with chronic heart failure and increased how much they exercised. Tests of the technique in humans could happen within a few years.

Chronic heart failure, where the heart fails to pump blood effectively around the body, is a leading cause of death worldwide. For most people, this long-term condition – involving slow, weak heart contractions – can’t be cured, but its symptoms are …

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