细胞治疗的心脏组织再生的希望

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5 e7 v+ E& I! r3 Y2 t" {* qCell Therapy's heart tissue regeneration hope
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Research by a team of scientists in Wales has shown early signs of being able to regenerate damaged heart tissue.
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By experimenting at Cardiff and Swansea university laboratories, Cell Therapy hopes to develop new treatments for heart failure over the next five years.7 J7 p- o6 D7 C  q- G
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Signs from early stem cell trials "look very positive", it said.! f! W. U+ t% v! o

1 D; l: @& k* E: fEx-First Minister Rhodri Morgan, a company director, said it could bring a cure for incurable heart disease.
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! P7 @+ i' g, L6 A3 r+ Y% n0 a0 R( h9 P3 @The research team was co-founded by Nobel prize-winning scientist Sir Martin Evans, who first isolated and grew embryonic stem cells in the 1980s.
7 \) O9 J5 d# m4 u- m( X+ ~, VCell Therapy Limited's executive director Ajan Reginald told BBC Wales: "We've identified what we think is a very potent type of stem cell which is heart specific. 4 P$ e7 ?; Q8 o

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"And what our therapy does is to produce more of those so that you have a large number of those cells to help you to regenerate the part of the heart that is damaged.
# W' o- R; H$ _) k# I"We've finished our first clinical trial which was focused on safety. The interim analysis looks very positive and very fortunately we've also seen some benefit - the study does show some signs of early regeneration."
  k) l. x4 J4 Q, f, r( D; BOne of the company's directors, former first minister Rhodri Morgan has a very personal history with heart disease.: d& L, t$ e" ?/ U
In July 2007, weeks after a gruelling assembly election campaign, Mr Morgan suffered a heart attack. 7 O$ P! v0 Y, H: Y$ A
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Talks about a coalition cabinet were put on hold as the then first minister had "stents" inserted into two blocked arteries.
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"It was very scary," Mr Morgan told BBC Wales, "in your heart of hearts you know - this is the big one."0 F" o# u* h7 |" R4 G/ G
Welsh label
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"But I was very lucky because there was no permanent damage to my heart."
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7 L, }) z$ U! Q) ~$ u$ D; ?# NAlmost exactly 50 years earlier Mr Morgan had seen his father go through the same experience.9 ]" B0 A1 B7 T+ G" C
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"I'll always remember helping the ambulance man carry my father down the stairs," he said.
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4 d5 D8 y- E# A! n"Heart disease has always been up there consciously for my brother and myself."
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& x* V4 y5 G6 `4 A! h7 g  yMr Morgan's involvement with Cell Therapy is his first role in the private sector.
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  X4 x& u( Y/ _He said he wants to strengthen the company's Welsh roots., b' x: {: p9 Y" W  m0 M& F

. ~& |$ f$ W; W6 d# K4 ?: n" U' V  B. ]( q"If we can bring it off this would represent a cure for people with incurable heart disease.
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"That's a tremendous advantage but the fact that it would have a Welsh label on it as well would be tremendous for Wales."
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