Listen to the beats

Genes That Control Heartbeat Could Shed Light On Heart Defects

Researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh, Scotland, conducted an international study, in which they found areas of the human genome that are responsible for the control of the human heartbeats.

By studying the genetic codes of over 50,000 people, researchers were able to pinpoint about 22 areas of the human genome, which are associated directly or indirectly with influencing the heart beats, or cardiac ventricular conduction.

Not only they were able to find new genes, but they were also able to figure out roles some of the genes play in electrical pulses that regulate heartbeats.

A research fellow at the University of Edinburgh, Dr. Jim Wilson put it the following way:

"This study demonstrates the great potential of modern genetics to help us better understand how our heart's electrical system works at the molecular level. This is very important as heart conduction abnormalities increase the risk of heart failure and sudden death: this knowledge will be used in the hunt for new treatments."

I think these findings are going to be extremely beneficial to the human kind because studies like these are the ones which are going to help us wipe out the number one killer in the US, the heart disease. This may be just a beginning, but you have to start somewhere in order to get somewhere.