News Editor: Renato M.E. Sabbatini, PhD
A New Hope for the Repair of Spinal Lesions
A new finding about how nervous cells form appropriate connections during their development, could lead to the possibility of reverting paralysis in the future.
Researchers discovered certain molecules in the spinal cord of adults that may inhibit the growth of nervous fibers. They also identified several growth factors that stimulate the growth of new spinal nervous connections is the inhibitors were in some way disabled.
Dr. Tesseir-Lavigne, the principal investigator, believes that, in order to repair several nervous lesioned connections in the spinal cord, it will be necessary to block the inhibiting molecules. Also, it will be necessary to provide growth factors that stimulate the germination of new growth fibers.