Washington (SmartAboutHealth) - An international team of researchers has been able to use a microRNA technique to block the development of heart disease on mice.

The researchers worked with a new type of treatment developed by Alnylam Pharmaceuticals and Isis Pharmaceuticals, it is known as Regulus Therapeutics.

Researchers, by looking at all types of microRNA, found that the most common type linked to heart disease was miR-21.

In human and mouse heart samples the number of miR-21 tripled with heart disease.

They used a drug on the mice and were able to successfully silence or block miR-21.

By doing this, they were able to prevent heart disease from d eveloping.

The study was published in the journal Nature.