Research suggests that stem cells obtained from human cord blood could help to repair the damage caused by heart attack. Professor Raimondo Ascione, Chair of Cardiac Surgery & Translational Research in the School of Clinical Sciences at the University of Bristol in the UK, and colleagues found that it is possible to expand rare CD133+ stem cells from human cord blood and then grow them into cardiac muscle-type cells. While it is possible to obtain stem cells from the patient, their availability is limited and there is also some doubt as to the functionality of the cells due to the effects of aging and other risk factors. The ability to create cardiac muscle-type cells from human cord blood overcomes these issues. “We believe our study represents a significant advancement and overcomes the technical hurdle of deriving cardiac muscle-type cells from human cord blood.  The method we have found has the attributes of simplicity and consistency.  This will permit more robust manipulation of these cells towards better cell homing and cardiac repair in patients with myocardial infarction.” said Professor Ascione. “Our research suggests that in the future stem cells derived from cord blood bank facilities might be used for repair after a heart attack.”.