Breakthrough in spinal cord reconstruction
Researchers at the University of California @ San Diego have discovered a chemical that can rewire the spinal cord after injury. With over 40,000 victims of neck and spinal damage in the United States, this work could dramatically change their lives. The research work done at San Diego has found a way to regenerate synapses that were damaged in rats. only were the synapses repaired but the nerves automatically connected to the correct connection site. Using neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) the nerves steered themselves to the correct destination synapse but also supported the complete connection to the synapse. The research group was able to prove using electron microscopes that the nerves were moving to the correct locations and automatically healing. NT-3 has reached two important milestones of spinal cord damage research – to allow nerves to move through tissue towards a synapse that was originally used, and to complete the healing process so the connection worked as before. The issue they are working on now is that the new nerves do not have myelin which acts as insulation in wires. If the myelin problem can be resolved, then work can be moved to higher organisms and finally human trials. (Source: Scotsman.com)
It is awesome to see work that can change how spinal cord injuries are worked on without the need of embryonic stem cells. There are many branches of science that is working on the issues of neck and spinal cord injuries and each has a different way to tackle the damage that is caused. Plus because NT-3 is not based on human tissue there is not the threat of rejection. Ultimately there will probably be a multiple targeted method used to cure spinal cord injuries. Each will fix certain aspects of the damage and leave openings for other technologies to make their repairs until the damage is gone. This is going to be a long and laborious process as we find out the spinal cord is much more complicated than first thought. It is not just a freeway for messages to move back and forth between the brain and the arms and legs. THe spinal cord makes its own messages and changes the structure of messages as they move through each section of the spine. Researchers need to fully understand this language and why these messages change before we try to make our own modifications. Most patients that are disabled are already in enough pain and suffering, we don’t need to make things worse in the name of increasing the speed of science.
There is plenty of science that needs to be understood and converted from animal research to human procedures without talking folks into making themselves guinea pigs. While some of this very dangerous work has made some small progress, most have either created more pain or out of control cancer cells at the point of injury. While it is difficult to watch loved ones unable to move or do the things they used to do, we need to let the researchers do their work using the scientific method. The best we can do is push for more funding and create environments so that new companies and ideas can pop up so we have the best and fastest chance for major breakthroughs like the one here about NT-3.
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