Lay summary
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its complications, including myocardial infarction (MI), are associated with a level of mortality and morbidity that constitute a major healthcare issue and burden in New Zealand. Current surgical and pharmaceutical approaches can have a limited long-term therapeutic effect. Stem cell therapy as an alternative approach has the potential to solve the problem. However, the limitation of stem cell therapy, such as the severe immune rejection, low retention or the potential of mutating into cancer cells, makes authorities more cautious to approve clinical trials. Synthetic stem cells, as a new area of stem cell therapy, can tackle the problems as never before. Due to its synthetic nature, synthetic stem cells can minimize the drawbacks of using living cells but maintain the effectiveness of stem cell therapy. This new generation of stem cells can provide a new mean to treat CVDs.