Scientists bridge' spinal injury nerve gap

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 8-12-06 | John Mangels

[Right Wing Assault]

Like linemen stringing an electric cable over a gorge, a research team co-directed by a Cleveland scientist has devised a way to coax nerve fibers to grow a "bridge" across gaps in rats' damaged spinal cords.

The new technique, reported today in the Journal of Neuroscience, successfully re-established some neural connections and restored a "considerable" amount of movement in five of seven partially paralyzed rats, according to the researchers.

After treatment, animals that had been dragging their forelimbs were able to plant their front feet, bear weight and bend their arms to touch their faces.

"I think it's a real milestone," said Case Western Reserve University neuroscientist Jerry Silver, who co-authored the study with neuroscientist John Houle of Philadelphia's Drexel University. "It's not walking and it's not running. But it's a start. It clearly shows [nerve] regeneration can occur, and it can be functional."

"With this system we've just touched the surface of what we're going to be able to do," Houle said.

Silver and Houle intend to launch testing in several months to determine whether the technique works in monkeys, whose central nervous systems are more similar to humans' in size and complexity. If that work is successful, human research could follow in several years.

[Right Wing Assault]

Oh, those poor rats! PETA should throw a tantrum.

Here's a graphic of the procedure:

http://www.cleveland.com/news/wide/index.ssf?/news/wide/spinal0712.html

[Right Wing Assault]

http://www.cleveland.com/news/wide/index.ssf?/news/wide/spinal0712.html

[Graybeard58]

and bend their arms to touch their faces.

Rats have arms?

[Irishguy]

amazing.. for all those people with injuries...

[georgiagirl_pam]

I don't want to hijack the thread, but notice that this is using your own body to repair itself, with a little help, not EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS.

[USArmySpouse]

I am SO proud of my alma mater (CWRU). When I was an undergrad at the engineering school soooooooooo long ago, the biomedical engineering department had just taken its baby steps on restoring use of limbs to paralyzed patients.

I hope this breakthrough can help a lot of people.

[Red Badger]

When I was an undergrad at the engineering school soooooooooo long ago

So, you had Edison and Tesla for roomates?.........

[Elle Bee]

My very thoughts ...... libs will do their best to discredit this advance ...... they need the far fetched chance that embyotic stem cells will cure something someday to assuage their guilt of abortion.

.

[maine-iac7]

libs...they need the far fetched chance that embyotic stem cells will cure something someday to assuage their guilt of abortion.

to keep their lucrative abortion mills up and running

[eccentric]

Prayers for more success in the research.

[USArmySpouse]

So, you had Edison and Tesla for roomates?.........

I believe Tesla was a couple of years ahead of me.;)

[Red Badger]

Shocking!.........

[spectre]

Fantastic news!

sw