IT IS being hailed as one of the most significant advances in nerve
regeneration in a decade. After severing an optic nerve in rats, neurologists
have found a way to reconnect it to the brain so that it once again transmits
normal electrical signals.
The achievement is a first in mammals, and may hint at ways of reversing some
types of blindness in people. Scientists also hope to use a version of the
technique to treat people with spinal cord injuries.
In many simple creatures, damaged nerves mend themselves. But mammals, with
their large brains, have traded this flexibility for…
