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It’s the scientific version of arranged marriages: Scientists are using viruses to transport beneficial genes that can then be injected into the body. Recently I wrote a post entitled, “Genes Piggy-Backed to Viruses: More About Pig Cell Transplants.” Well a similar techinque of piggy-backing beneficial genes to viruses has been used with spinal cord injuries in rats.

Scientists have attached a gene that encodes light-sensitive proteins to a virus which was then injected into a site just below the rat’s surgically severed spinal cord. These light-sensitive proteins then acted like photoreceptors which responded to pulses of light. This in turn stimulated the nerve cells located below the severed cord. That’s worth repeating again: the severed nerves were able to transmit impluses. Scientists hope to implant light emitting devices that will initiate nerve impluses in areas previously paralyzed.

As repugnant as the thought of surgically severing the spinal cords of rats is to me, I am as equally excited about the prospects this discovery holds for the neurologically disabled.  

Read “Broken Nerves Are Fixed in a Flash“ for more about how this technology can limit the damage done by spinal cord injuries.