Spinal cord damage blocks the routes that the brain uses to send messages to the nerve cells that control walking. Until now, doctors believed that the only way for injured patients to walk again was to re-grow the long nerve highways that link the brain and base of the spinal cord. For the first time, a UCLA study shows that the central nervous system can reorganize itself and follow new pathways to restore the cellular communication required for movement.

MIT researchers have uncovered a critical difference between flu viruses that infect birds and humans, a discovery that could help scientists monitor the evolution of avian flu strains and aid in the development of vaccines against a deadly flu pandemic.

When a blood vessel clogs up, a localized deficiency of oxygen results, causing the surrounding tissue to die. However, working with mice, VIB scientists connected to the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven have been able to prevent muscular tissue with severe hypoxia from dying. The muscles seem to ‘adapt’ to the lack of oxygen - a metabolic tour de force that animals also use when hibernating, but that has remained a mystery until now. For the medical world, this discovery signifies an important step forward in limiting damage after a heart attack, for example, or for better preservation of organs awaiting transplants.