Owing to its intrinsic beauty and biomedical importance, the heart has been the focus of intensive research. The recent EMBO/EMBL-sponsored symposium ‘Cardiac Biology: From Development to Regeneration’ gathered cardiovascular scientists from across the globe to discuss the latest advances in our understanding of the development and growth of the heart, and application of these advances to improving the limited innate regenerative capacity of the mammalian heart. Here, we summarize some of the exciting results and themes that emerged from the meeting.