How to Mend a Broken Heart

Dr Kevin Fong finds out how close scientists are to being able to mend your heart if it stops working. He meets some of the people who have undergone pioneering heart operations and the scientists who are pushing the limits of cardiac treatment. We meet a man who has had his heart replaced with an artificial one powered by a mechanical pump he carries around in a rucksack, and witness a scientist bring a dead animal heart back to life on a workbench. Plus, the work of an American scientist who is using stem cells to turn what she calls a 'ghost heart' - the scaffold of a heart - into a replacement heart for humans.

Other episodes for this season

Back from the Dead
Episode 1 - Back from the Dead
The Death of the Oceans?
Episode 2 - The Death of the Oceans?
What Happened Before the Big Bang?
Episode 3 - What Happened Before the...
Is Seeing Believing?
Episode 4 - Is Seeing Believing?
Miracle Cure? A Decade of the Human Genome
Episode 5 - Miracle Cure? A Decade of...
Asteroids - The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Episode 6 - Asteroids - The Good, the...
Deepwater Disaster - The Untold Story
Episode 7 - Deepwater Disaster - The...
What Is One Degree?
Episode 8 - What Is One Degree?
What Is Reality?
Episode 9 - What Is Reality?
Science Under Attack
Episode 10 - Science Under Attack
The Secret World of Pain
Episode 11 - The Secret World of Pain
Surviving a Car Crash
Episode 12 - Surviving a Car Crash
How to Mend a Broken Heart
Episode 13 - How to Mend a Broken Heart
Are We Still Evolving?
Episode 14 - Are We Still Evolving?
Predators in Your Backyard
Episode 15 - Predators in Your Backyar...