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The following article is based on press releases issued by Thirteen/WNET New York, a key program provider for PBS stations across the U.S. These programs were closed captioned and described by NCI. Check with your local public television station to see if the descriptions will be available on the SAP audio channel.

TWO NEW PBS DOCUMENTARY SERIES ON THE HUMAN HEART AND THE POWER OF THE HUMAN BRAIN DEBUT IN OCTOBER 2007

Watch for THE MYSTERIOUS HUMAN HEART and CURIOUS on Your Local Public Television Station

New York, NY – Thirteen/WNET New York presents THE MYSTERIOUS HUMAN HEART, a new PBS series from filmmaker David Grubin that explores the body's perpetual motion machine and how we cope with coronary diseases, to premiere October 15, 2007.

The heart is the engine of human life. Beating almost 100,000 times a day, more than 36 million times each year, it endures abuse and trauma with extraordinary resilience. And yet, as more nations become prosperous and lifestyles change, heart disease has become the world's number one killer of men and women alike. In America alone, approximately 3,000 people a day die from cardiovascular disease.

THE MYSTERIOUS HUMAN HEART, which premieres Mondays, October 15th and 22nd at 9 p.m. (ET) on PBS (check local listings), is a new in-depth, comprehensive television series from award-winning filmmaker David Grubin about the heart: how it works, what can go wrong with it, and how we treat it. The three-hour series follows the true, compelling stories of men and women, young and old alike, whose hearts have led them to a brush with mortality. Through these encounters, the series will explore the most common misconceptions about this unique organ, and document the latest scientific and medical revelations - discoveries that have transformed our understanding of the heart and given us new insights into the best ways to prevent heart disease and treat it when it does occur.

Each of the series' one-hour segments focuses on a different aspect of what we thought we knew, what we know now, and what we're on the verge of learning about the heart. Much of the series' impact will come from the interactions between patients and the specialists who are fighting to save their lives - in some cases by venturing to the far borders of scientific and medical knowledge.

Real science, real life converge in CURIOUS, A new PBS series from Thirteen/WNET New York that takes viewers inside brain centers of innovation to witness breakthroughs that could change the world. Check local listing for the October 2007 debut dates.

"CURIOUS gives viewers a rare opportunity to see how real scientific research gets done at a cutting-edge institution," said Jared Lipworth, the series' executive producer. "We wanted to explore the cross-pollination that goes on when brilliant minds come in contact with and challenge one another, and along the way, we've discovered some incredible stories. This isn't just research for research's sake; these are some big innovations that may actually change the world as we know it."

Mark Mannucci, the series' director, writer and producer, wanted to make a science show that would be appealing to people who might not generally choose to watch a science show. "I'd never tackled a science show before CURIOUS so I had no preconceptions about what science on television should be," he said. "We played with a lot of different ways to explain science concepts and we had fun doing it. We hope that comes across, and that viewers will be engaged by the clarity that that playful spirit brings to the ideas we're trying to illustrate. But we hope the real points of connection between science and the viewer are the people we meet. That's what's really at the heart of CURIOUS - people trying to solve their own problems, people trying to figure it out for the rest of us."

The two-part series follows researchers working on A revolutionary cancer drug, an "artificial leaf" that uses sunlight to produce earth-friendly fuel, understanding the functioning of the brain, and other cutting-edge concepts.

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About PBS

PBS, headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, is a private, nonprofit media enterprise owned and operated by the nation’s 349 public television stations. Serving nearly 90 million people each week, PBS enriches the lives of all Americans through quality programs and education services on noncommercial television, the Internet and other media. More information about PBS is available at www.pbs.org, the leading dot-org Web site on the Internet.

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