According to the Department of Health and Human Services, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States (1). The medical community is constantly seeking new technologies and discoveries to treat heart disease more effectively. Methods include mechanical therapies such as artificial heart valves and drug-based approaches such as anticoagulant drugs. Recently the scientific community has made new and exciting discoveries in the development of stem cell-based therapies. If scientists could identify and grow cells that can restore oxygenated blood flow to damaged heart tissue and generate new muscle tissue, it would change the landscape of cardiovascular medicine. In fact, this process has already begun as research focuses on a specific cell with these qualities, the mesenchymal stem cell. Mesenchymal stem cells originate from the mesoderm, the middle germ layer of an embryo, and play a vital role in the formation of connective tissue. such as bone, cartilage, marrow, fat and blood. They are also precursor cells that help produce cardiac, skeletal, and smooth muscle. Mesenchymal stem cells are found in every organ of the body but are most commonly obtained from bone marrow. Mesenchymal stem cells are classified as multipotent stem cells. Multipotent stem cells can transform into many different cell types that belong to the same lineage. These innate traits make them prime candidates for use in developing treatments for heart disease. Although research and clinical trials are still in their early stages, mesenchymal stem cells possess many desirable characteristics necessary to successfully regenerate heart tissue and restore heart function after a heart attack. One of the most important...... half of the article ... ...the treatment of myocardial infarction." Heart, lung and circulation 18 (2009): 171-80. Web.Meirelles, da Silva, Lindolfo, Aparecida Maria Fontes, Dimas Tadeu Covas and Arnold I Caplan. “Mechanisms involved in the therapeutic properties of mesenchymal stem cells.” Cytokine and Growth Factors Reviews 20 (2009): 419-27. Web.Porada, Christopher D. and Graca Almeida-Porada therapeutics and vehicles for gene and drug delivery." Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 62 (2010): 1156-61. Web.Shi, Rui-Zhen, and Qing-Ping Li. “Improving outcomes of transplanted mesenchymal stem cells for ischemic heart disease". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 376 (2008): 247-50. Web.United States. Department of Health and Human Services. “National Vital Statistics Reports.” cdc.gov U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, May 20, 2010. Web. March 27. 2011.