Scientists 3D Print Human Heart Muscles

 A human embryonic stem cell line derived at Stanford
University. (REUTERS/Julie Baker/Stanford University School of
Medicine/California Institute for Regenerative Medicine/Handout)
A human embryonic stem cell line derived at Stanford University. (REUTERS/Julie Baker/Stanford University School of Medicine/California Institute for Regenerative Medicine/Handout)
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Scientists 3D Print Human Heart Muscles

 A human embryonic stem cell line derived at Stanford
University. (REUTERS/Julie Baker/Stanford University School of
Medicine/California Institute for Regenerative Medicine/Handout)
A human embryonic stem cell line derived at Stanford University. (REUTERS/Julie Baker/Stanford University School of Medicine/California Institute for Regenerative Medicine/Handout)

Heart diseases are the leading cause of death in the United States killing more than 600,000 people a year. A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has 3D printed a functioning human heart pump in the lab, which could help save the lives of thousands of patients.

According to the Science Daily website, the researchers used a type of stem cells with the potential to develop into any type of cell in the body, in addition to a mix of proteins, and the printer's ink.

The heart muscle model is about 1.5 centimeters long and was specifically designed to fit into the abdominal cavity of a mouse for further study, the German News Agency reported.

The team said the new muscle can be used to study the functions of the heart, and the problems that might affect it.

Brenda Ogle from the Department of Biomedical Engineering in the University of Minnesota College, said this is a critical advance in heart research because this new study shows how we were able to 3D print heart muscle cells in a way that the cells could organize and work together.

"We now have a model to track and trace what is happening at the cell and molecular level. We can introduce disease and damage into the model and then study the effects of medicines and other therapeutics," she explained.



One Man Gored, 7 Others Bruised in Spain's Bull Running Festival

'Mozos' or runners take part in the second Running of the Bulls during the Sanfermines festival in Pamplona, Spain, 08 July 2025. The San Fermin festival runs until 14 July 2025. EPA/Daniel Fernandez
'Mozos' or runners take part in the second Running of the Bulls during the Sanfermines festival in Pamplona, Spain, 08 July 2025. The San Fermin festival runs until 14 July 2025. EPA/Daniel Fernandez
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One Man Gored, 7 Others Bruised in Spain's Bull Running Festival

'Mozos' or runners take part in the second Running of the Bulls during the Sanfermines festival in Pamplona, Spain, 08 July 2025. The San Fermin festival runs until 14 July 2025. EPA/Daniel Fernandez
'Mozos' or runners take part in the second Running of the Bulls during the Sanfermines festival in Pamplona, Spain, 08 July 2025. The San Fermin festival runs until 14 July 2025. EPA/Daniel Fernandez

A man was gored and seven others lightly injured on Tuesday, the second day of Pamplona's San Fermin festival in which thousands of people line the medieval city's narrow streets for the centuries-old tradition of running with bulls.

The man who was gored, identified only as being older than 25, was injured by a bull horn under his right armpit, a spokesperson for the city emergency services said.

"At this time, he is under observation but is in stable condition," she told reporters.

The seven others suffered bruises and contusions, some in the shoulder or head, Reuters reported.

In the festival's "encierros", or bull runs, fighting bulls are set loose in the streets and then race to reach the bullfight arena. Hundreds of aficionados, many wearing traditional white shirts with red scarves, run with them.

On Tuesday morning, one of the bulls stopped in the middle of his run, and charged the runners for several tense minutes.

The festival, which gained international fame from Ernest Hemingway's 1926 novel "The Sun Also Rises", lasts for one week in early July.

Participants are occasionally gored at the hundreds of such bull-running fiestas in Spain every year. Other injuries are common. At least 16 runners have lost their lives at the Pamplona festival down the years, the last in 2009.

As well as the morning bull runs and afternoon bullfights, the San Fermin festival features round-the-clock singing, dancing and drinking by revelers.
There are also religious events in honor of the saint.