Heart regeneration & zebrafish

Israeli scientists have gone a step further in understanding how zebrafish can heal their own hearts.

The team at the Weizmann Institute of Science, found that without a network of lymphatic vessels - thin-walled vessels structured like blood vessels – the hearts of zebrafish failed to heal.

“By clarifying this role further, we may learn what the fish heart ‘knows’ about regeneration that the mammalian one doesn’t, and use this knowledge to heal human hearts,” said team member Karina Yaniv.