The incredible breakthrough in reversing paralysis which meant that many of the dogs in the experiment were able to walk again – and scientists hope to use a similar technique to help human patients in the future.
The research was a collaboration between the Medical Research Council and Cambridge University.
Professor Robin Franklin told the BBC “Our findings are extremely exciting because they show for the first time that transplanting these types of cell into a severely damaged spinal cord can bring about significant improvement.
“We’re confident that the technique might be able to restore at least a small amount of movement in human patients with spinal cord injuries but that’s a long way from saying they might be able to regain all lost function.”
None of the dogs involved with the experiment had been injured deliberately prior to the experiment. One dog that saw significant improvements was Jasper, a dachshund whose owners had previously been used to wheeling their pet around on a trolley due to his paralysed back legs.
In the incredible research, cells from the dogs’ noses and grown over the course of weeks were used to bridge breaks in their spinal cords.
Professor Geoffrey Raisman, chair of the University of London’s Neural Regeneration department said the results were an “encouraging advance” and a “significant step” towards helping humans with spinal cord injuries.
