Beyond its uses as a vegetable.. A beating human heart tissue from spinach leaves

Spinach plant leaves

Beyond its uses as a vegetable.. A beating human heart tissue from spinach leaves

A team of scientists successfully transformed spinach leaves into beating human heart tissue after the idea came to them during their lunch break, according to Time magazine, citing The Washington Post.

Spinach cells

Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts were seeking a solution to the widespread shortage of organ donors. Given the difficulty of reproducing veins, the researchers decided to utilize the system found in spinach leaves, replacing spinach cells with human heart cells.

"Being able to take something as simple as a spinach leaf, which is an abundant plant, and turn it into tissue that can carry blood is incredibly exciting," said researcher Glenn Godet, head of the Worcester Polytechnic Institute's laboratory, in a video about the work.

Structural supports

The researchers published the preliminary results of their study in the journal Biomaterials. They reported that soap was used only to preserve the leaf's structural supports, and the spinach was replaced with heart tissue that "inhabited the inner surfaces of the plant's blood vessels." After five days, the cells began to beat.

"It was amazing," bioengineer Joshua Gerschlak told The Washington Post. "Suddenly you see the cells moving."

The researchers injected the spinach leaves with tiny beads the size of red blood cells to ensure the spinach's veins could transport substances. Gerschlak explained that the researchers are looking to eventually transform spinach into heart cells and transplant them onto damaged heart tissue.