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Nature 416, 589-590 (11 April 2002) | doi:10.1038/416589a

Medicine: Clearing a path for nerve growth

Lars Olson

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After spinal-cord injury, severed nerve fibres face a thicket of obstacles as they try to regenerate. Researchers have used a bacterial enzyme to help prune these obstacles in rats.

Spinal-cord damage is tragically common, affecting three to five people out of every 100,000 in the United States and similar numbers in other countries. The consequences for both the injured person and their families and friends can be devastating.