A virtual reality heart is being developed by an Oxford professor to help researchers test new drugs without dosing up human beings.

The heart runs on Europe's largest supercomputer and is created in such staggering detail that it behaves almost exactly like a living heart.

Denis Noble, professor of physiology at Oxford University, has spent 35 years on the project, which has more than a million virtual cells.

The idea of the heart is to allow researchers to see how new drugs affect the heart's performance. In a few years, Prof Noble believes researchers will be stitching virtual heart, lungs and other organs together on a computer screen. At every step, Prof Noble and his colleagues do experiments to be sure that the model they have created is lifelike.

It is beginning to pay dividends. Two years ago a pharmaceutical company was concerned it had spotted a discrepancy in high blood pressure patients who were taking a particular drug.

Prof Noble was able to give his virtual heart the drug, spot the glitch, get 'inside' individual cells and pinpoint the cause of the trouble.

It is expected his virtual heart will replace real hearts in research.

Story date: Saturday 20 March

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