The Syfy Online NetworkSCI FI WireDVICEFidgit

DVICE: We love technology. We want to know about it, write about it, and shake it till it breaks. Part of the Syfy Network, DVICE has a worldwide team of writers who constantly immerse themselves in the tech world, distilling the sometimes-excessive information out there to bring you only what you need to know.

Video
 

Related Sections: Medical

A nanotech gel to heal spinal injuries under development

spine_full.jpgSpinal injuries that leave people paralyzed are currently incurable, one of the most feared and rehabilitating things that can happen to you. But researchers at Northwestern University are looking to change that for good, as they're hard at work on a new nanotechnology that could enable us to completely heal cut and severed spinal cords, allowing the previously paralyzed to walk again.

The tech takes the form of a gel that, when injected into mice with spinal cord injuries, allowed them use of their hind legs again after a mere 6 weeks. The procedure hasn't been tested on humans yet, but it's certainly a promising step forward towards a time where spinal cord injuries won't necessarily mean a life confined to a wheelchair.

Via Eurekalert

 
Send-A-Friend
(4) Comments

younga:
Are they looking for human volunteers? Spianl injury, L2 L5 and right foot wasting away....More »


Comments

By garrettherzig at 2:54 PM ON 04/05/08

debilitating?

By Aluvendale at 10:02 PM ON 04/06/08

I wonder how the mice got those spinal cord injuries. . .

By SmartArse at 12:45 AM ON 04/07/08

rehabitufabriliating.

By younga at 3:50 AM ON 03/31/09

Are they looking for human volunteers? Spianl injury, L2 L5 and right foot wasting away.


Leave a Comment


Type the characters you see in the picture above.

(Please be patient, it may take a moment for your comment to appear.)

DVICE continues below
Get the latest tech news
on your cellphone!
Text DVICE to 72434
DVICE on your iPhone
Follow DVICE on Twitter
Editor: Peter Pachal
editor@dvice.com
©2009, Syfy. All rights reserved.