Cardiovascular Disease & Scar Tissue - Cardiovascular disease leads to one death every 33 seconds in the US, with scar tissue from heart attacks being a major cause [3][4] - Scar tissue, while preventing holes in the heart, impairs heart function, leading to heart failure as the heart muscle compensates for the non-functional scar tissue [6][7][8] - Unlike mammals, zebrafish can degrade scar tissue and regenerate heart tissue, despite the scar tissue being primarily composed of collagen [9][10] Collagen Cross-linking & TMRO Probe - The research indicates that the *type* of collagen cross-linking, rather than the *extent*, determines scar tissue degradability [32] - Mammalian scar tissue has "locked" collagen cross-links (specifically pyodenoline or PYD), making it difficult to degrade, while zebrafish have "open" cross-links [33][34][36][37] - The company developed a molecular imaging probe, TMRO, to detect collagen cross-linking, enabling reduced animal usage in research by visualizing the process [19][20][18] Fibrotic Diseases & Future Implications - This research has implications for fibrotic diseases, which account for 30-50% of deaths in the industrialized world, by potentially inhibiting the formation of "locked" collagen cross-links [37][38] - The company's mission is to inhibit the formation of these locks, allowing scar tissue to be degraded, restoring organ function, and preventing a large number of deaths [38]