All Articles Tagged As: spinal cord

New embryonic stem cell therapy restores walking ability in rats with neck injuries (11/10/2009)

The first human embryonic stem cell treatment approved by the FDA for human testing has been shown to restore limb function in rats with neck spinal cord injuries -- a finding that could expand the clinical trial to include people with cervical damage. ...> Full Article

Spinal cord regeneration enabled by stabilizing, improving delivery of scar-degrading enzyme (11/5/2009)

Researchers have improved an enzyme that degrades dense scar tissue that forms when the central nervous system is damaged -- and developed a new system to deliver it, ultimately enabling spinal cord regeneration. ...> Full Article

Regeneration can be achieved after chronic spinal cord injury (10/31/2009)

Scientists at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine report that regeneration of central nervous system axons can be achieved in rats even when treatment delayed is more than a year after the original spinal cord injury. ...> Full Article

Combinatorial therapy elicits spinal cord regeneration more than a year after injury (10/29/2009)

New research finds that adult neurons can still regenerate as long as 15 months after a spinal cord injury. The study, published by Cell Press in the October 29 issue of the journal Neuron, highlights the success of a strategy that targets multiple environmental and intrinsic obstacles known to limit nervous system plasticity and regeneration. ...> Full Article

Researchers find ways to encourage spinal cord regeneration after injury (10/24/2009)

Animal research is suggesting new ways to aid recovery after spinal cord injury. New studies demonstrate that diet affects recovery rate and show how to make stem cell therapies safer for spinal injury patients. The findings were presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health. ...> Full Article

Antioxidant controls spinal cord development (9/20/2009)

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have discovered how one antioxidant protein controls the activity of another protein, critical for the development of spinal cord neurons. The research, publishing this week in Cell, describes a never-before known mechanism of protein control. ...> Full Article

Multiple route bone marrow stem cell injections show promise to treat spinal cord injury (3/14/2009)

A joint American and Ecuadorian research team has found that injecting a patient's own bone marrow cells directly into the spinal column using multiple routes was effective in treating spinal cord injury, returning some quality of life but without serious adverse events. Improved blood flow and oxygen supply may have contributed to the success, even for a gunshot wound victim. Functional improvements, including improved bladder control, were observed. ...> Full Article

UCI behind world's first embryonic stem cell study in humans (1/25/2009)

A therapy developed at UC Irvine that made paralyzed rats walk again will become the world's first embryonic stem cell treatment tested in humans. ...> Full Article

Geron Receives FDA Clearance to Begin World's First Human Clinical Trial of Embryonic Stem Cell-Based Therapy (1/23/2009)

Geron to Study GRNOPC1 in Patients with Acute Spinal Cord Injury ...> Full Article

Researchers Discover Key Gene for Making Motor Neurons (7/27/2008)

Genes evolved to ensure the generation of the diverse array of motor neuron subtypes needed for fine motor control of the limbs ...> Full Article

Spinal cord stem cells could be basis of new treatment (7/23/2008)

A researcher has pinpointed stem cells within the spinal cord that, if persuaded to differentiate into more healing cells and fewer scarring cells following an injury, may lead to a new, non-surgical treatment for debilitating spinal-cord injuries. ...> Full Article

Engineer Develops Detergent to Promote Peripheral Nerve Healing (6/11/2008)

100 Patients Treated Successfully in First Year of Use ...> Full Article

Study holds new promise for patients recovering from spinal injuries (1/13/2008)

Spinal cord damage blocks the routes the brain uses to send messages to the nerve cells that control walking. For years, doctors believed that the only way injured patients could walk again was to regrow the long nerve highways that link the brain and base of the spinal cord. ...> Full Article

Scientists restore walking after spinal cord injury (1/7/2008)

Spinal cord damage blocks the routes that the brain uses to send messages to the nerve cells that control walking. Until now, doctors believed that the only way for injured patients to walk again was to re-grow the long nerve highways that link the brain and base of the spinal cord. For the first time, a UCLA study shows that the central nervous system can reorganize itself and follow new pathways to restore the cellular communication required for movement. ...> Full Article

Researchers Find Elusive Stem Cells in Intervertebral Disc (11/2/2007)

Orthopedic researchers have for the first time found stem cells in the intervertebral discs of the human spine, suggesting that such cells might someday be used to help repair degenerating discs and remedy lower back and neck pain. ...> Full Article

A Step Forward In Understanding Tissue Damage After Spinal Cord Injury (8/3/2007)

Acute spinal cord injury can damage spinal cord tissue and result in loss of functions such as mobility or feeling. ...> Full Article

Blood Clotting Protein May Inhibit Spinal Cord Regeneration (7/9/2007)

Fibrinogen, a blood-clotting protein found in circulating blood, has been found to inhibit the growth of central nervous system neuronal cells, a process that is necessary for the regeneration of the spinal cord after traumatic injury. The findings by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine, may explain why the human body is unable to repair itself after most spinal cord injuries. ...> Full Article

Scientists re-grow tadpole tail hoping to learn how to regenerate limbs in humans (3/2/2007)

Scientists at the Forsyth Institute may have moved one step closer to regenerating human spinal cord tissue by artificially inducing a frog tadpole to re-grow its tail at a stage in its development when it is normally impossible. ...> Full Article

Human stem cell transplants repair rat spinal cords (2/23/2007)

Human nerve stem cells transplanted into rats’ damaged spinal cords have survived, grown and in some cases connected with the rats’ own spinal cord cells in a Johns Hopkins laboratory, overturning the long-held notion that spinal cords won’t allow nerve repair. ...> Full Article

Expert to clone embryos (2/8/2005)

Clone researcher, professor Ian Wilmut and the Kings College London scientists have been granted licence to clone human embyos for studying motor neurone disease. Professor Wilmut is responsible for creating the first animal clone "Dolly". ...> Full Article