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Sudden cardiac death - which came to prominence when foootballer Fabrice Muamba suffered a near-fatal heart attack during a game - kills over 600 people under the age of 34 every year.
Now scientists at Cardiff University have identified the faulty gene that causes the condition, giving hope that a cure could be within reach.
Today we spoke to Professor Jeremy Pearson from the British Heart Foundation, who says he is encouraged by the breakthrough.
Heart specialists at Cardiff University have, for the first time, discovered the cause of sudden cardiac death in young children.
Scientists have found that incoherent communication between two proteins in heart cells was to blame for the previously unexplained cause of death.
In the future, Professor Lai anticipates that the finding will give doctors a new weapon in the fight against sudden cardiac death.