UW geneticists have recently come across a discovery that can possibly help alleviate the high prevalence of heart disease, which could have profound implications in the field of medicine.
Researchers, including Charles Murry, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Biology and co-director of the Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (ISCRM), discovered the gene MEIS-2 has a crucial role in regulating heart development. In the study, the scientists turned off MEIS-2 in zebra-fish embryos — allowing the usual effects of the gene to be dormant — and found that the zebra-fish hearts did not form properly.
Read the full story at The Daily of the UW.