Zoe Lofgren: “I include for the Record two articles that outline the research by Johns Hopkins University about the cure of paralysis…”

“I include for the Record two articles that outline the research by Johns Hopkins University about the cure of paralysis that was reported last week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in New Orleans. Team Uses Primate's Own Cells to Repair Spinal Cord Injury (By Jacqueline Weaver) A Yale research team has transplanted stem cells from a primate to repair the protective sheath around the spinal cord in the same animal, an accomplishment that some day could help people with spinal cord injuries and multiple sclerosis. "The concept is not ready for people, but the fact that it can be achieved in a primate is significant," says Jeffrey Kocsis, professor of neurology and neurobiology at the School of Medicine. "Cells were taken from the same animal, with minimal neurological damage, and then injected to rebuild the myelin." In multiple sclerosis, the immune system goes awry and attacks the myelin. Damage to the myelin builds up over years, causing muscle weakness or paralysis, fatigue, dim or blurred vision and memory loss. Using the primate's own cells to repair the myelin, which is a fatty sheath that surrounds and insulates some nerve cells, sidesteps a common problem in transplanting organs, explains the researcher.”