Who knew that the nose knows how to walk?!

In what is a truly heartwarming story for pet lovers and their owners alike, we have this stunning video of 10-year-old dachshund, Jasper, who went from total hindlimb paralysis to being more or less totally functional in about a year, via some groundbreaking biomedical research. 

Jasper and 33 other dogs were patients in the trial of a new cellular therapy, all of the dogs having severe spinal cord injuries due to accidents or back problems. The experimental therapy that was on trial involved the removal of primarily a certain type of cell from the canine nose, and injecting them at the site of spinal cord injury. 

More specifically, dogs were injected with either a control solution or a sample of what are termed OECs (Olfactory Ensheathing Cells) derived from the nasal passage: these are cells which promote the formation of nerve cell connections to the brain. There had been previous work studying the effect in rats which was very promising, but no study had ever been able to repair damage that had been incurred a year prior. However, the lower spinal cord is much further away from the brain than the nose, and it was unclear whether the OECs would be able to forge new connections (or repair old ones, to put it another way) in this larger animal model. 

Spectacularly, in the example shared with the world, we see the heartbreaking sight of an animal dragging his back legs, supported by a harness to allow him to slide them along, but totally unable to walk at all without that harness. Six months post-injection we see that the dog is now using his hind limbs in an incredible turn of events, and by the end of the trial we see the almost unbelievable phenomenon of Jasper walking unaided. Well, apart from some encouraging words from his "trainer" perhaps!

"Our findings are extremely exciting because they show for the first time that transplanting these types of cell into a severely damaged spinal cord can bring about significant improvement." said Professor Robin Franklin, a study leader from Cambridge University (Wellcome Trust-MRC Stem Cell Institute), in England. 

Mike and May Hay, owners of Jasper, were visibly astounded and delighted with the outcome in some other footage that I saw earlier. Jasper suffered a spinal cord injury in an accident in 2008, and was unable to walk since. Before the treatment, he was effectively an invalid and unable to play with the two other dogs in the house, and had to be helped outside.. Now they say that Jasper is whizzing around, and running into ditches and coming out of them dirty along with his two buddies, as before. And yes, he can swim now! 

Spinal cord injury is devastating to animals and humans alike because essentially it has always been an entirely irreversible injury. The fact that this new therapy achieved any apparent regrowth of damaged nerves and reestablishment of various neural pathways is almost like science fiction to this boy. Imagine many (or hopefully less than that!) years from now when this kind of approach could be applied to damaged human spinal cord and the paralysis that results from it?!

This was the first study showing such spectacular results in animals that were at least 12 months post injury, and that aspect is more likely to reflect the presentation and challenge of the typical human spinal cord injury. However, at the moment caution is necessary and experts such as Professor Geoffrey Raisman of University College London underline the fact that it is not a cure for spinal cord injury in humans, while at the same time emphasizing that it should almost certainly be a huge step forward towards that cure (which will likely involve combined therapy).

For all those who would put down stem cell research as somehow unethical, or, God forbid, even "unholy", well, all I would say is that George Bush disappeared in 2008, and Obama just got reelected for another four years - and one thing that Obama did do early on (March, 2009) was reverse the block that Bush put on funding for embryonic stem cell research. Quite right too! 

It's the next big thing in medicine, it's already here, and there will be no stopping it now. If we can repair the damage incurred in multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, spinal cord injury/paralysis, to name but a few? It would be "unholy" to not go for it, full steam ahead!

Science and medicine always go slower than we would like when it comes to curing human diseases. But for now, I will keep on smiling at the sight of this cute little four-legged beast restored to being an active canine once again, and marvel at the possibility that some two-legged beasts are going to eventually experience the magic that this result represents. Until then, keep up the incredible work, you stellar stem cell scientists! - Kevin Mc