• Lab grown human spinal cord heals after injury in major breakthrough A tiny lab grown spinal cord just showed that a cutting edge molecular therapy may help repair devastating spinal injuries. • Scientists at Northwestern University have created the most sophisticated lab grown model yet for studying human spinal cord injury. • In the new research, the team worked with human spinal cord organoids – miniature organs derived from stem cells – to recreate different forms of spinal cord trauma and evaluate a promising regenerative treatment. • For the first time, researchers showed that these human spinal cord organoids can faithfully reproduce the major biological consequences of spinal cord injury. • The model displayed cell death, inflammation, and glial scarring, which is a thick buildup of scar tissue that forms a physical and chemical barrier preventing nerve repair. • When the damaged organoids were treated with “dancing molecules” – a therapy that restored movement and repaired tissue in a previous animal study – the results were dramatic.
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