Researchers develop artificial nerve

Regular nerves getting you down? Why not try a bionic nerve? According to reports, researchers at the University of Michigan have developed an artificial nerve which could have the ability to bring damaged limbs and organs back to life. In a study published in the medical rag Experimental Neurology, Dr. Paul Kingham and his team at the UK Centre for Tissue Regeneration managed to take fat tissue from adult animals and differentiate them into nerve cells to be used for repair and regeneration. The team will repeat the study with human volunteers, and then develop an artificial nerve constructed from a biodegradable polymer. The "bio-material" will be rolled into a tube-like structure and inserted between two cut nerves, so that regrowing nerve fibers can spread from one end to the other. Next, the researchers hope to create a species of tyrannical man-bots called the Borg, whom they hope will move outward through the galaxy, assimilating all who stand in their way.

[Via Slashdot]

[mushrooshi @ Oct 19th 2007 1:59AM]

I thought they already did this some 15 years ago.

[jm1 @ Oct 19th 2007 2:17AM]

Yes yet *another* promising field of research which will be myteriously abandoned or disappear into ether.

lets face it, after the manditory 10+year human trials are done, nothing will come of this, except some failed lab report due to faulty lab testing due to some hype seeking stock promoting medical tech company,looking to quickly cash in on naive stock holders.

...move along people nothing here to see...

[Gorjan @ Oct 19th 2007 9:48AM]

You have no idea what you're talking about.


Stud.med.

[L. Cyphre @ Oct 19th 2007 3:02AM]

It's not mixing man with machine though, so not a borg.
Think more in the direction of... ZERG!

[silentk @ Oct 19th 2007 3:04AM]

now they just gotta perfect cryostasis so we can store Patrick Stewart then bring him back to save the future of the planet! or something

[Mick @ Oct 19th 2007 3:32AM]

That's the University of Manchester - not the University of Michigan!

[ufo @ Oct 19th 2007 3:50AM]

Borg means Castle in Swedish. Björn Borg (in the picture) was a test subject for neural enhancement in the 70's. That's why he was so fast on the tennis court. He also have a bionic arm. Just wanted to let you know...

[Glenn @ Oct 19th 2007 4:05AM]

And when it came to Björn, resistance was futile. (Yeah, I'd like to see any player--now or ever--using a *real* tennis racket beat him at Wimbledon, both playing their best... never gonna happen.)

Those other Borg, however, are "definitely not Swedish". :D

[ufo @ Oct 19th 2007 4:16AM]

"Those other Borg, however, are "definitely not Swedish". :D"

Are you sure?
Moahahahahaaaaaa!

(we will assimilate u and force u to eat meatballs with "lingon"-berries in pods massproduced by Ikea while listening to Abba and playing Battle Field)

[Fubar @ Oct 19th 2007 7:52AM]

UFO, you don't scare me.

However, the thought of washing down pickled herring and salty licorice with aqavit while listening to Ace of Base and Rednex... that gives me nightmares.

[Preston @ Oct 19th 2007 10:13AM]

I saw the sign, and it open up my eyes, and I am happy now living without you. I left you, oh oh ooh.

[Rune @ Oct 19th 2007 4:41AM]

Hmmmm lol a danish magazine about the swedish borg!!!
We are all dorm when his hellspawn takes over the world.

Oh no now I know why he created Borg Boxers, to assimilate our precious little spermies and make them borg...

[wawul @ Oct 19th 2007 5:07AM]

You've got it completely wrong... if you go back to the actual article you will notice that they managed to differentiate a Schwann-like cell from adipose tissue, which is not a nerve cell or neuron, but a glial cell that wraps around the axon of a neuron providing myelin insulation in the peripheral nervous system.

[TH @ Oct 19th 2007 5:24AM]

I always thought John McEnroe would be more in need of artificial nerves.

[Argot @ Oct 19th 2007 6:21AM]

Yeah, but he had his on the outside of the body.
"YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!!!!"

[N30 G30 @ Oct 19th 2007 7:32AM]

Off topic but...

Was anyone else looking at the magazine cover thinking, "Helvetica is a really really nice font."

[Fubar @ Oct 19th 2007 7:52AM]

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that nobody has thought that since about 1970.

[I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Oct 19th 2007 9:01AM]

If only Christopher Reeve were still alive; he'd be ecstatic to hear of this news.

[sombody @ Oct 19th 2007 3:59PM]

like bionic woman!

[Michael @ Oct 20th 2007 4:11AM]

This is probably a bit late now, but FUUUUUCK Yes.

Sorry for the language, but about 4 weeks ago, I had a brain operation to remove a huge tumor. So huge that it was sitting on a nerve, so the surgeons had to remove that nerve. THat nerve controlled the feeling and some movement on the left side of my face, and it's been annoying the hell out of me. This is fantastic, I might just be able to get my face back afterall...

[Valgas @ Oct 20th 2007 4:25AM]

I want some more nerves for my penis.