Researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) have identified a key cellular mechanism that guides embryonic heart tissue formation - a process which, if disrupted, can lead to a number of common congenital heart defects. Heart tissue forms in two distinct phases known as the First Heart Field, which includes the left ventricle and portions of both atrial chambers, and the Second Heart Field (SHF), which consists of the right ventricle and outflow tract. In humans, the process occurs within the fourth week of development... 
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