The British Heart Foundation is spending 50 million pounds on stem cell research in the hope that one day it will be as easy to recover from a heart attack as it is to repair a broken bone.

The "Holy Grail" would be a pill, or simple injection, that would stimulate the body to heal itself. That may still be a long way off, but as our science correspondent Tom Feilden reports, new approaches to regenerative medicine could hold the key to mending broken hearts.

And Professor Chris Mason is a trustee of the UK Stem Cell Foundation and told Today's Sarah Montague that this research could be a "toolchest for conditions in the future".

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