Fantastic news... Gives hope to many... I aplaud Dr Alain Carpentier..

Tony Jennings, Sunshine Coast, Australia

"Face the fact that we will die one day?" You must be really depressed.... Overpopulation means we should stop to reproduce!

Dennis, A'dam,

This is great news! I will need a transplant in 5 years because of a heart defect I was born with. This gives me hope.

Michael McDonald, Heber, USA

Why can't we all just face the fact that we will someday die and stop trying to stall the inevitable? We are living on a planet that is just about stretched to it's limit with overpopulation.

Eagle, Eburg, USA

.... would you have been happier if we turned them in to sandwitch meat ? Nice.
Judging by the many responses my comment generated I regret to say that just too many people seem to take animal's lives for granted - why not find alternative ways to test?

colleen, woodbridge, canada

As a transplant recipient myself 12/98 I think that is good news. Now, if they would just come up with a non invasive way to check for rejection other that the heart biopsy, that would be nice.

Bill, Boise, Idaho, USA

I heartily congratulate the french team and would the nuts who go on about the poor animals grow up and take off thier rose tinted glasses, If it was you or yours that needed a heart would you say think of the poor animals, No. Nature in tooth and claw is not pretty. So well done the French.

William, Cowdenbeath, Scotland

I really don't think this will fly it still relies on external power. You couldn't put on of these in mean with a gun.

kevin, Milwaukee, USA

A great advance. Now just solve the power problem. It certainly beats having myself cloned to establish a supply of spare parts. My wife never liked that idea.

Harold Mitnick, Palm Harbor, USA

thank god it was tested on animals so that a human life may have the chance to be extended

Pat, Cleveland,

i suspect that as newer models come online as is always the case, there won't be a need for live human heart transplants as there is now, and that it will be as commonplace as pacemakers and artifical limbs. sci-fi is now science fact, the bionic heart has offically arrived.

dustin, NC,

This is a true leap in medical science.
I for one welcome such inventions. Some people that have commented on here do need to think a little more about what they are saying.
I do not smoke I drink occasionally yet I have a genetic heart condition which could very well see me dead by the time I am 40

matt, wilta,

I feel sorry for the poor dinosaurs who died and became oil just so we can use it to make the plastic that was used to make this gadget.

Mike, Eaton Rapids, MI, USA

This is an amazing invention. If the tests prove it works, those involved in its development deserve the Nobel prize.

Zoe Robinson, Manchester, United Kingdom

This is a device that may save hundreds of thousands of human lives! I think the animals should be proud that they are helping save lives rather than just getting eaten.

Travis, Topeka, USA

I have heart failure. I am 46 years old and have always tried to eat right, exercise, and not smoke. This kind of news is so encouraging. I have two school-age daughters - I would be happy to recharge every 5 to 16 hours for the chance to be there for them.

Tonya Watson, Mechanicsville, VA, US

Amazing, although I hope that they will be able to develop batteries that last longer than 5-16 hours soon. Real sci-fi drama as JimBob mentioned; we'll probably see this as the underlying plot for a film in the future!

Still, great news for patients with heart disease though!

Felicia, London,

"I feel very sorry for the poor animals who suffered having this gadget tested on them."

Are you kidding me?! The people who's lives will hopefully be prolonged because of this breakthrough will be thankful that this artificial heart was tested on animals first.

Patrick, Atlanta, USA

Colleen of Woodbridge, Canada, would you feel sorry for those potential fathers and mothers and friends whose lives could be saved for the sake of some calves and sheep?

Christian, Dallas, Texas

"I feel very sorry for the poor animals who suffered having this gadget tested on them.
colleen, woodbridge, canada"

Colleen,
Do you realize that every medicine and device on the market has been tested on animals. And, I bet you that you have taken something that has been tested on a animal.

Bob, Los Angeles, USA

"I feel very sorry for the poor animals who suffered having this gadget tested on them. "
colleen, woodbridge, canada

.... would you have been happier if we turned them in to sandwitch meat ?

Robert, Baltimore, USA

Every so often, a piece of news like this surfaces and brings out the 14-year old in me that wants to travel 100, 150, 1000 years into the future.

Sigh.

Pete, Coventry,

Tom Hreben: I understand your frustration. Did you see the articles the times wrote a few months ago detailing how several diabetics were actually cured using their own stem cells? Run a search for it, it's amazing. Hope this helps.

Martin, St andrews, Scotland

I feel very sorry for the poor animals who suffered having this gadget tested on them.

colleen, woodbridge, canada

I'm a cardiac/transplant RN.

Actually, in concept this really isn't that different than what we have now. Current artificial hearts have the same limited battery life, but can be the size of a washing machine.

If this shrinks it down to make the patient more mobile and independent, excellent!

Ed, Phoenix, United States

Thanks to all the individual thinkers whose work made this possible. May my gratitude be the first of many rewards.

JoeL, Rochester,NY, USA

Not convinced I would want a piece of plastic inside my body, how reliable are they and what is the financial cost to manufacture one.

When will a scientist discover how to make us live forever.

Tuftmeister

Tufty, Swansea, Wonderful Wales

Is it 3G?

Steve, London, England

And when might I ask, is the artifical pancreas coming? Nice to know that vast amounts are spent on heart disease but comparatively little is spent on diabetes research. Just as dangerous both ailments but one gets more funding than the other, WHY???
A disgruntled diabetic.

Tom Hreben, Eastbourne, England

Better to stay healthy: moderate alchohol, no cigarettes, lots of vegetables, fish and brown bread, walking or cycling to work.

Plastic heart with batteries? No thanks.

Peter, Cambridge, UK

What happens if there is a blackout? does it run on AA batteries from Tesco's?

But seriously, good job the French!!

steve, London,

Mashallah, what a great step. Generation 1 may require daily charges, but wait for generation 2...

Farrukh, Woking,

As a heart recipient myself if it does away with the daily anti-immune pills we have to take then it is progress.

However what is to stop a rich person from buying this device and extending their life.........I mean theoretically this robotic
heart can beat forever?

Digby, Orlando, USA

Freaky? Perhaps-- but far better than dying for lack of an alternative.

I find it no different than needing a "recharge" of air every few seconds, or food and water 3 times a day.

Mike, Atlanta, GA

Better that than just die awaiting transplant.

BobJim, Arlington,

I will take the recharge anyday. Beats being dead

Chris, Newark,

Cool, I have a mechanical aortic valve and now I can upgrade.

Joe, Duluth, GA, USA

A constant dismay to me, to see people die and suffer over all these decades, after I designed a viable artificial heart back in 1974, and could not get anyone interested in developing the design.
Surgeons were convinced that pig hearts etc were the way to go. I still believe, my design was best

John Bayldon, Harrogate,

... yes, every day of your life or... no life! tough decision...

Delia, Paris,Fr.,

That would be freaky -- to have to get a recharge every 5 to 16 hours or die. Real science fiction drama, every day of your life.

JimBob, Los Angeles, CA, USA