Israeli medical breakthrough aims to help disabled walk again

Assessment: Researches at Tel Aviv University say they have developed an artificial spinal cord that was implanted in mice, resulting in over 80% of the tested species being able to move again, having been chronically paralyzed …

A team of researchers at Tel Aviv University, led by Prof. Tal Dvir, managed to develop a human spinal cord and implant it in mice suffering from chronic paralysis.

“And in you all the nations on earth will be blessed” Genesis 12:3

A 3D image of a human spinal cord. (photo credit: CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) The new method is based on performing a biopsy of human fat tissue from the patient’s abdomen. Then, in a process that mimics the embryonic development of the spinal cord, the researchers transformed the cells into human spinal implants.

According to estimates, in order to treat paralyzed people, tens or hundreds of implants will be required for each patient, and the development of each implant would take some five years.