Scientists reveal what lies behind beat generation and it seems the life-giving process is simpler than we thought (Image: REX)
WHAT controls a beating heart? It seems the life-giving mechanism is simpler than we thought.
Each beat is triggered by a surge of calcium ions that causes millions of overlapping filaments in a heart cell to pull against each other and contract. These filaments are made of two proteins called actin and myosin.
Actin must be “activated” before contraction can occur and it was thought that both calcium and myosin were necessary for this step. But when Yin-Biao Sun at King’s College London and …
