In Mice, Gene Therapy Helps Restore Movement After Spinal Cord Injury
Over time we as humans have used all types of animals and model organisms to test experiments for our use. One thing that has happened recently is they have discovered gene therapy can help restore movement from a spinal cord injury in mice. This is a very big discovery as there are many people around the world who suffer from devastating spinal cord injuries who were never able to walk again. After experiments it showed that through gene therapy it was able to help restore movement, but would this work on humans?
Past studies showed that nerve fibers can be restored through human anatomy over time if the spinal cord is damaged. Although this was possible, it would not be enough to restore motor function of the body as many of the fibers were not able to connect to the correct parts of the body. They say when someone has a complete spinal cord injury there will be no natural repair from the body. The problem was that to restore movement and the spinal cord, the fibers must not only regenerate but also connect to their natural targets to restore the motor function.
I believe that this is a step in the right direction for us as humans. A spinal cord injury is something that is devastating, not only to the person it happens to but for everyone around them. If we were able to come up with a therapy or medicine that can help regenerate the function of the spinal cord that was effective, it would help thousands of people around the world.
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