The developing heart

Dr Timothy Mohun, National Institute for Medical Research, London

Shortlisted for the British Heart Foundation Reflections of Research competition 2010

BHF funding is helping Dr Mohun to look for genes involved in controlling the hearts early development. This work could lead to vital clues about why some people are born with defects in the structure of the heart.

The movie shows the structure of a heart from a developing chick embryo and reveals the heart chambers and valves. The heart is embedded in plastic, then repeatedly sliced and photographed in layers.

Dr Mohun collaborated with Dr Wolfgang Weninger at the Medical University of Vienna to develop a technique called high resolution episcopic microscopy, which allows researchers to build highly accurate 3D computer models.

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