Method To Repair Damaged Adult Nerves Discovered

Posted by kdawson on Friday December 11, 2009 @05:25AM from the reconnecting-the-dots dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Researchers have discovered a promising method to regrow damaged nerves in adults. Brain and spinal-cord injuries typically leave people with permanent impairment because the injured nerve fibers (axons) cannot regrow. A study from Harvard and Carleton University, published in the December 10 issue of the journal Neuron, shows that axons can regenerate vigorously in a mouse model when a gene that suppresses natural growth factors is deleted. Here is the journal article (subscription required to view more than the abstract)."

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Re:nerve growth unsuppressed == tumors? by windsleeper · 2009-12-11 05:50 · Score: 5, Insightful

I would think that given the choice between a) curing oneself from being quadriplegic and increasing one's risk of cancer tremendously or b) staying quadriplegic and cancer-free, I think nearly everyone would choose the cure + cancer-risk route.