Source: Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Posted: June 26, 2006
Summary:
A team of Johns Hopkins scientists reports that they’ve engineered new, completed, fully-working motor neuron circuits -- neurons stretching from spinal cord to target muscles -- in paralyzed adult animals.
The research, in which mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells were injected into rats whose virus-damaged spinal cords model nerve disease, shows that such cells can be made to re-trace complex pathways of nerve development long shut off in adult mammals, the researchers say.
Commentary: Hopefully this will provide scientists with new insights into the functioning of the human nervous system that will enable them to repair damage caused by central nervous system disorders.
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