The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies is hosting a fascinating video and powerpoint presentation by Samuel I. Stupp, a Northwestern professor and a world authority on self-assembling nanofibers. One of the achievements of Prof. Stupp and colleagues is the use of nanotechnology to reverse paralysis in lab mice with spinal cord injuries.

From the statement by Northwestern:

In a dramatic demonstration of what nanotechnology might achieve in regenerative medicine, paralyzed lab mice with spinal cord injuries have regained the ability to use their hind legs six weeks after a simple injection of a purpose-designed nanomaterial...

"By injecting molecules that were designed to self-assemble into nanostructures in the spinal tissue, we have been able to rescue and regrow rapidly damaged neurons," Stupp said. The nanofibers -- thousands of times thinner than a human hair -- are the key to not only preventing the formation of harmful scar tissue which inhibits spinal cord healing, but to stimulating the body into regenerating lost or damaged cells."

Stupp and his coworkers designed molecules with the capacity to self-assemble into nanofibers once injected into the body with a syringe. When the nanofibers form they can be immobilized in an area of tissue where it is necessary to activate some biological process, for example saving damaged cells or regenerating needed differentiated cells from stem cells.

This same work also has implications for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, both diseases in which key brain cells stop working properly.

The Link to the Press Release is here 

http://www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/stories/2007/05/stupp.html 

http://www.nanotechproject.org/119/nanotechnology-offers-hope-for-treating-spinal-cord-injuries-diabetes