Beating path to improved heart care

SCIENTISTS have carried out a study which could help explain how heart problems develop.

Researchers including a team from Edinburgh University have pinpointed genes that control our heartbeat and have uncovered several DNA changes associated with the electrical impulses that make the heart beat.

The findings pave the way for a greater understanding of abnormal heart rhythms and heart defects.

The research was led by the University of Washington and involved more than 100 scientists in the UK, Europe and USA, including teams at the universities of Edinburgh, Leicester and Glasgow.

Dr Jim Wilson, Royal Society university research fellow at Edinburgh University, said: "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."