Scientists at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions developed a procedure that helps spinal cord nerves re-grow after injury. Their research will be published in the July 18 issue of the Proceedings of the National 
Academy of Sciences. The study may help to people who suffered types of traumatic spinal cord injury.
The process of re-growing nerve fibers is hampered by the fact that the brain and spinal cord are so crowded with nerves and nerve fibers and there seems to be a built in mechanism that keeps nerves from sprouting willy-nilly and making inappropriate connections.
The researchers studied the boundary between the spinal cord and the periphery to coax a nerve end to grow out of the inhibitory spinal cord into a more permissive environment that contains less crowding.
Four weeks after transplantation and enzyme treatment, injected dyes into the nerves showed that nerve fibers grew from the injured cells of the spinal cord into the transplanted nerve. This development is especially encouraging since surgical transplantation of a peripheral nerve to help nerve fiber growth from the spinal cord has shown limited success in humans.
Even a slight improvement in nerve regeneration could offer large improvements if it allows a paralyzed person to regain some movement. What do you think?
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