(July 24, 2012 at 12:23 am)Chuck Wrote: Of course this is media misrepresentation. Vertebrate heart muscle tissue naturally contracts rhythmically so long as the muscle cells has a store of ATP left. This is why heart can go on beating long after brain death and the Incas can make a spectacle of exhibiting a still beating heart cut out of the chest of human sacrifice victims. So there is nothing sensational about cultured heart muscle tissues pulsing.
If they create a artificial jelly fish that has differentiated cells working together, and capable sustaining metabolism, that would be a real step towards engineered life. But cultured muscle tissue spasming rhythmically is not real progress. Just sensational stunt to impress the impressionable.
Well I feel stupid.
