Researchers given £1.5m to study treatment for traumatic brain injuryRSS Feed

A $2.4 million (£1.5 million) grant has been given to researchers to study the regeneration of neuronal tissue in the hope that this will lead to a treatment for traumatic brain injury and other neural problems.

The researchers, associated with the University of Florida McKnight Brain Institute's Regeneration Project, have studied the capacity of the Mexican axolotl salamander, which can replace whole limbs and parts of its nervous system.

Edward Scott, principal investigator for the grant and director of the McKnight Brain Institute's program in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, said: "These salamanders use many of the same body systems and genes that we do, but they have superior ability to regenerate after major injuries.

"We think that studying them will tell us a lot about a patient's natural regenerative capacities after spinal cord injury and nerve cell damage."

The team of researchers has estimated that humans have about 90 per cent of the same genes as the axolotl salamander.

Meanwhile, scientists in Toronto have identified a stem cell in the skin that can generate different cells and are using this in spinal cord injury research.

News from Serious Law, specialist traumatic brain injury solicitors.

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