Two in every hundred children enter the world with a heart that did not form as intended — a quiet, persistent tragedy whose cellular origins have long eluded medicine. Researchers at the University of Copenhagen have now traced the fault to a microscopic antenna on the surface of nearly every human cell, where three proteins orchestrate the transformation of stem cells into heart muscle during the earliest weeks of life. When genetic mutations silence this signal, the developing heart — and sometimes the brain, kidneys, and skeleton alongside it — loses its way. The discovery does not merely
Researchers identify cellular antenna defect mechanism behind congenital heart disease
Congenital heart disease affects approximately 2 in every 100 newborns globally, with some patients experiencing additional defects in the brain, kidneys and skeleton.