Part of this is because only a small percentage of stem cells injected actually survive the process, but a newly developed liquid could make life a little easier for freshly transplanted cells. Researchers have found that encapsulating them in a sticky hydrogel gives them the ability to not only survive, but multiply and improve the injured heart's ability to pump blood.

According to Maria Roselle Abraham, assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, most of the stem cells that are injected are repelled by the heart beat which pushes them into the lungs before they can attach to the organ wall. Furthermore, the metabolism of stem cells slows down once they are prepared for injection, a process that involves moving them from the culture flasks and into a solution, causing them to die within a few hours if they aren't attached to tissue.