Left: Two men wearing coats and hats who are standing side-by-side on a sidewalk walk towards the camera with the assistance of walkers. Right: artist’s rendering of an oval-shaped medical implant dotted with electrodes that has wires protruding from one end.
Within Hours, Surgical Implant Lets Paralyzed Patients Walk
Multiple clinical trial participants who have severe spinal injuries were able to stand, walk, and perform specific activities after just one day of using an implant surgically embedded in their spines.
ABOVE: NEURORESTORE / JIMMY RAVIER
Within Hours, Surgical Implant Lets Paralyzed Patients Walk
Within Hours, Surgical Implant Lets Paralyzed Patients Walk

Multiple clinical trial participants who have severe spinal injuries were able to stand, walk, and perform specific activities after just one day of using an implant surgically embedded in their spines.

Multiple clinical trial participants who have severe spinal injuries were able to stand, walk, and perform specific activities after just one day of using an implant surgically embedded in their spines.

ABOVE: NEURORESTORE / JIMMY RAVIER
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spinal cord injury

Image of the Day: Muting Muscle Spasms
Amy Schleunes | Apr 16, 2020
Nimodipine, a drug used to treat brain hemorrhages, alleviates spasticity in mice after spinal cord injuries.
Pelizaeus-Merzbacher disease neural stem cell transplantation
Neural Stem Cell Transplantation Crawls Toward the Clinic
Ashley P. Taylor | Oct 29, 2019
Several early-stage clinical trials indicate that implanting patients with the cells is safe. But whether they can alleviate neurological problems remains to be seen.
Brain-Controlled Exoskeleton Enables Paralyzed Patient to Walk
Emily Makowski | Oct 4, 2019
The machine cannot be used outside of the lab yet, but the results are promising.
Opinion: Ethical Challenges in Using iPS Cells to Treat Paralysis
John D. Loike, Martin Grumet | Mar 7, 2019
Uncertainties about the cells’ risk profiles and the potential for hyping unproven therapies mean scientists and the media must tread carefully.
Japan Approves iPS Cell Therapy Trial for Spinal Cord Injury
Catherine Offord | Feb 18, 2019
The treatment will be tested in a handful of patients who suffered nerve damage in sports or traffic accidents.
Image of the Day: Spontaneous Regeneration
Carolyn Wilke | Feb 6, 2019
The eel-like lamprey can return to normal swimming and burrowing after suffering a severed spinal cord twice.
Nerve Stimulation Gives Paralyzed People Ability to Walk
Abby Olena | Oct 31, 2018
Precisely timed electrical stimulation and intensive rehabilitation restore some capacity to walk among three men more than four years after their debilitating injuries.
Cell Transplant Trial for Spinal Injury Is Safe
Ruth Williams | Jun 1, 2018
The first human experiment with neural precursor cells implanted to treat chronic spinal cord injury suggests the procedure is safe, and hints at a small benefit.  
Stem Cell Implants Improve Monkeys’ Grip After Spinal Cord Injury
Ashley Yeager | Feb 26, 2018
Thousands of axons grew from the transplants and connected to damaged primate tissue, the first such demonstration in primates.
Image of the Day: Reunited and It Feels So Good
The Scientist Staff | Jul 28, 2017
Zebrafish have a remarkable ability to heal their damaged nerve fibers following a spinal injury.
Spinal Cord Injury Researcher Dies
Jef Akst | Feb 22, 2017
Neuroscientist Geoffrey Raisman pioneered the study of spinal cord injury and the use of cell transplants to repair the damage.
Next Generation: Nanotube Scaffolds Reconnect Spinal Neurons
Ruth Williams | Jul 15, 2016
A 3-D carbon nanotube mesh enables rat spinal tissue sections to reconnect in culture.
Neuroprosthesis Restores Arm Movement
Tanya Lewis | Apr 13, 2016
A 24-year-old quadriplegic man regains control of his arm with a neural prosthetic device.
Neural Stem Cells Sprout Long Axons
Jyoti Madhusoodanan | Aug 6, 2014
Early neurons reprogrammed from human skin cells show unprecedented axonal growth in a rat model of spinal cord injury.
Geron hESC Trial to Resume?
Jef Akst | May 27, 2014
Nearly three years after Geron shuttered its stem cell program, BioTime receives funding to relaunch a Phase 1 trial for spinal cord injury.
Week in Review: February 24–28
Tracy Vence | Feb 28, 2014
New PLOS data sharing rules; mouse cortical connectome published; reprogramming astrocytes into neurons and fibroblasts into hepatocytes
Making New Spinal Neurons
Ed Yong | Feb 25, 2014
With a single gene, scientists reprogram supporting cells in the spines of living mice into new neurons.
Enzyme Checks Neuronal Growth
Kerry Grens | Dec 17, 2013
A microtubule-severing enzyme curbs the regeneration of damaged nerve cells.
Nose Cells Help Paralyzed Dogs
Jef Akst | Nov 20, 2012
A transplant of cells from the lining of the nose helps dogs with spinal injuries walk again.