Harp seal heart valves being tested for human use.(News)

Researchers in Quebec will soon begin testing heart valves from harp seals to determine if they are suitable for use in humans.

Animal rights groups say the research is unnecessary and will serve only as a government propaganda tool to promote Canada's sealing industry, which received a major blow on May 5 when Europe banned imports of seal products. The federal government projects that a commercial seal valve market could generate substantial revenue for Canada, but heart valve experts involved in the project say the research could lead to more than just financial gain. If their theory is proven true--if seal valves do offer significant advantages over existing bioprosthetic valves--the research could result in prolonged and improved lives for sufferers of heart valve disease.

"I'm optimistic that it could be superior to bovine or porcine valves," says Philippe Pibarot, Canada research chair in valvular heart diseases.

Over the next 3 years, Pibarot and his colleagues will conduct proof-of-concept research at the Quebec Heart and Lung Institute in Quebec City. They will collaborate with Ta Ma Su Inc., a Quebec City-based producer of seal products, and Laboratoires Perouse, a company in France that makes products for cardiovascular surgery and oncology. Also involved is Dr. Andreas Agathos, a cardiac surgeon in Athens, Greece, who holds several patents on a method of replacing human valves with marine mammal valves.

Pibarot, a medical professor at Universite Laval in Quebec City, obtained harp seal valves from Ta Ma Su Inc. in March 2008. He hopes to test seal valves in animals, possibly sheep, within 3 years. Though human implantation may be 8 to 10 years away, Pibarot says the limited durability of valves made from pig and cow tissue makes this research necessary. "The anatomy and structure of seal valves are different. Their valves are thicker with more elastic fibres. They have a more robust structure because they are designed by Mother Nature to survive harsher conditions."

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

David Lavigne, science adviser for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, says he's heard this story before. "We roll our eyes every time it comes up," says Lavigne, who for 23 years taught zoology at the University of Guelph in Guelph, Ontario. "It doesn't seem very likely--or very necessary."