Heart failure (CHF) is the direct cause of death of a variety of cardiovascular diseases, culminating in irreversible myocardial necrosis and fibrosis. Traditional drug treatment, intervention, and surgical treatment have their own limitations. Increasing cardiac regeneration and repair of the injured heart is undoubtedly a promising approach to solve these clinical problems. In this paper, we summarized recent progress of heart development and regeneration, highlighting potential involvement of cell proliferation, dedifferentiation and cell reprogramming. We also proposed several fundamental and important research directions in this exciting area.