First let me start by explaining what Schwann cells
are. Schwann cells are a
type of cell that is found throughout the entire peripheral nervous system.
Schwann cells are a type of "support" cell in the peripheral nervous
system. They insulate individual nerve fibers (which are called
axons), that are necessary for sending appropriate electrical signals
throughout the nervous system.
This explanation can be a bit confusing so I went ahead and researched the word, Schwann cells by itself. I stumbled upon the Miami Project Cure Paralysis. It turns out that Schwann cells are linked to paralysis and the FDA has approved a clinical trial to safely transplant human Schwann cells into patients with paralysis. Researchers believe since Schwann cells are responsible for sending electrical signals that it could possibly lead to the discovery of curing Paralysis. What researchers hope that will occur is that the Schwann cells will potentially act like stem cells. A research study has already been done at the University of Miami, on lab animals where they repaired central nervous system injuries using their own Schwann cells and the procedure helped the animals significantly.
If in fact the researchers are correct and Schwann cells possibly react like Stem cells they can help find a cure for people with paralysis. They will be using actual human subjects for this research so I hope no one gets hurt more from the process.
This explanation can be a bit confusing so I went ahead and researched the word, Schwann cells by itself. I stumbled upon the Miami Project Cure Paralysis. It turns out that Schwann cells are linked to paralysis and the FDA has approved a clinical trial to safely transplant human Schwann cells into patients with paralysis. Researchers believe since Schwann cells are responsible for sending electrical signals that it could possibly lead to the discovery of curing Paralysis. What researchers hope that will occur is that the Schwann cells will potentially act like stem cells. A research study has already been done at the University of Miami, on lab animals where they repaired central nervous system injuries using their own Schwann cells and the procedure helped the animals significantly.
If in fact the researchers are correct and Schwann cells possibly react like Stem cells they can help find a cure for people with paralysis. They will be using actual human subjects for this research so I hope no one gets hurt more from the process.
I will include an interesting video that I found regarding the
Miami Project Cure Paralysis just to give you a better understanding...
I find it fascinating that Schwann cells are going to be used as an attempt to repair spinal cord injuries and cure paralysis. This kind of research seems to be very ambitious and promising, and I find that admirable. This is a perfect example of how animal research can be utilized in a positive way through minimizing animal distress, and maximizing potential gain in both humans and animals (if I read your post correctly, the animal subjects actually benefited significantly from this research.) I am certainly glad that the University of Miami Health System have decided to start trials for human research.
ReplyDeleteThanks for explaining how the Schwann cells work. It's so amazing how our technology has improved in the past 30 years. I also agree with Frankie about how animal research is able to aid the researchers.
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