mad medicine, neuroscience, science, spinal cord, the mice walk again

Stick Your Severed Spine Back Together with a New Biochemical Gel

Severed spines may not mean paralysis for much longer. Inject a special gel into mice with severed spinal cords and six weeks later the mice are back on their feet. It's a pretty neat trick, one that scientists at Northwestern accomplish by impregnating the gel with biochemical signals that hinder the growth of scar tissue and promote growth of myelin, the sheath that protects nerve cells and fosters their growth.

John Kessler, lead author on the Journal of Neuroscience paper says it'll be at least a few years before you find the gel in your local hospital, and it hasn't been shown to work in humans yet. He plans to submit the gel to the Food and Drug Administration for approval as a pharmaceutical in the not-too-distant future.

Source: Northwestern University via EurekAlert

1:20 PM on Fri Apr 4 2008
By Michael Reilly
3,818 views
19 comments

Comments

DeathSun at 01:37 PM on 04/04/08
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Wow, so it's like the scene in Serenity when Zoe gets hurt and they patch her spine back together with some gel thingy?

Ooooooooo.....
What CAN'T Whedon do?

...aside from bringing Firefly back.
RastaD at 02:08 PM on 04/04/08
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Wow, scientists have cured severed spinal cords for mice and have reversed cirrhosis in rats... Is drunken rodent bungee jumping very far off?
AhnyerKeester at 02:14 PM on 04/04/08
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Hey, it worked for Worf, it has to be good.
RastaD at 02:21 PM on 04/04/08
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By the way, wasn't the myelin shealth the problem in the first place? I thought it grew over the ends of the nerve cells, blocking growth. Is this the scarring they are refering to or am I completly daft? It sounds like they are promoting myelin growth.
amorphous at 02:28 PM on 04/04/08
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Ouch. Hey, rub some dirt on it, fella.
moff at 02:28 PM on 04/04/08
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Connectedness Index: 583

You know how I fixed my severed spine?

Gumption.

(Kids today...)
jmb8504 at 02:40 PM on 04/04/08
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Anybody else thinking we just stumbled upon Bacta here?
GenXCub at 02:41 PM on 04/04/08
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@moff:

I walked it off.
moff at 02:46 PM on 04/04/08
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Connectedness Index: 583

@GenXCub: Atta boy!
Ronestar at 02:56 PM on 04/04/08
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Seriously, who picked that photo at the top? I don't think that fella needs a spine repair, 'cuz that would be the least of his problems me thinks. ^^
cde at 04:00 PM on 04/04/08
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Aeon Flux, back when it was on MTV, had that one woman with a missing spinal link, using liquid canisters to hold it in place. Which she could remove to become super limber >_>
Spellbound at 05:29 PM on 04/04/08
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A few years until it'll be available in hospitals??

I want to know when I get it OTC. That's like the ultimate outdoor survival tool.
outsdr at 06:10 PM on 04/04/08
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I wonder if this could be used as a treatment for MS.
comp_wiz101 at 07:27 PM on 04/04/08
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It's nice to know that millions of dollars of research can improve the lives of so many mice :)
Ghede at 10:41 PM on 04/04/08
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While the treatment appeals to me that picture is pure nightmares.

I expect it to get up and scream at me, slowly shambling towards me. Never stopping. I run, I trip, and black out. When I awaken, it stands above me. I can smell the fetid stench that permeates every facet of this monstrosity. I close my eyes, and pretend I'm not there...
Michael Reilly at 12:14 AM on 04/05/08
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Connectedness Index: 38

@Ghede: thanks, Iliked the picture, too.
BlindKarma at 11:47 AM on 04/05/08
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I wonder if gel would be able to help MS patients as well.
outsdr at 08:11 PM on 04/05/08
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@BlindKarma: My mother has MS. At this point, she is probably beyond help of anything less than a scientific miracle... but I can still hope.
bocfretu at 01:21 PM on 04/06/08
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DeathSun, I had a similar thought. I'm on board for anything involving more discussion of Firefly, or other Whedon whims,

Would love to see an article on medical miracles anticipated in science fiction. You could do a lot with Star Trek and medical imaging, battlefield medicine and Firefly. Or BSG for that matter.

Keep the intriguing updates coming, Michael Reilly. (Though, please go easy on the zombie mummy spine photos, no?)

-bocfretu