A local research team has garnered successful results in animal tests of a new heart disease treatment that combines stem cell and gene therapies for the first time ever.

The team, led by Professor Kim Hyo-soo at Seoul National University Hospital's cardiovascular center, said it has developed a novel cure that accelerates the life, capability and division of stem cells by injecting certain genes into vascular stem cells.

The new technology is expected to offer hope to patients who have not benefited from stem cell transplantation due to the failure to obtain a sufficient amount of stem cells for therapy.

The research results have been published in a U.S. journal of biochemistry and molecular biology.