New Graphene breakthrough reverses paralysis

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By Matthew Griffin Enhanced Humans and Biotech 21st September 2016

Proven in the labs Texas-PEG has already restored motor function in injured lab rats

it isn’t the first time that we’re read about new breakthroughs that have repaired, and reversed serious paralysis but now Graphene, the super material that seems to have almost limitless potential has found another use case. In a world first a team at Rice University has shown that the material could be key to a promising new treatment for patients with severe spinal cord injuries.

Previous work has shown graphene can stimulate the growth of neurons, while Polyethylene Glycol, or PEG as it’s often known has been shown, with limited success to heal damaged spinal cords in animals.

Building on these two strands of research, researchers at the university used their chemistry knowhow to combine graphene nanoribbons, which were stripped from larger carbon nanotubes, with PEG to produce the curiously named “Texas-PEG”. The amazing thing about this new material is that it acts as a much more potent “conductive scaffold” which helps to prompt the two ends of a severed spinal cord to repair and reconnect.

Most importantly though this isn’t just theoretical.

In a recent animal study involving a rat with a severed spinal cord, treatment with Texas-PEG restored some function within just 24 hours and after just two weeks, the same rat was well on its way to a full recovery, displaying “almost perfect motor control.”

While we’re still a good way away from translating this early research into an available treatment for spinal cord injuries in humans the research has been lauded by the groups peers as “too promising to be minimized.”

Matthew Griffin / About Author

Matthew Griffin is a multi-award winning Futurist and expert in Disruption and Innovation, Geopolitics, Leadership, and Technology, who NASA have described as a "walking encyclopaedia of the future" and a "futurist Polymath." 15-time best selling author of the "Codex of the Future" series, Matthew is the Founder and Futurist in Chief of the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures advisory firm working with royal households, world leaders, G7, G20, and G77 governments, NGOs, and multi-national mid and mega cap firms to help them explore, shape, and lead the next 50 years of business and society.

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