Born and Died Under Heavy Weight.

What the Samurai did with their swords, we do with our hands. - Helio Gracie

Rerouted nerves let paralyzed people use hands

A pioneering surgical technique has restored some hand and arm movement to patients immobilized by spinal cord injuries in the neck.

Like railroad switchmen, the focus is on rerouting passageways. But, instead of trains on a track, surgeons redirect peripheral nerves in a quadriplegic’s arms and hands by connecting healthy nerves to the injured nerves.

Essentially, the new nerve network reintroduces conversation between the brain and the muscles that allows patients to once again accomplish tasks that foster independence, such as feeding themselves or writing with a pen.

For a new study published in the journal Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, researchers assessed outcomes of nerve-transfer surgery in nine quadriplegic patients with spinal cord injuries in the neck. Every patient reported improved hand and arm function.

“Physically, nerve-transfer surgery provides incremental improvements in hand and arm function. However, psychologically, these small steps are huge for a patient’s quality of life,” says Ida K. Fox, assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at Washington University in St. Louis. “One of my patients told me he was able to pick up a noodle off his chest when he dropped it. Before the surgery, he couldn’t move his fingers. It meant a lot for him to clean off that noodle without anyone helping him.”

X-citing X chromosome discovery could aid research on many sex-linked disorders

A new genetic discovery could help scientists understand exactly how the silencing of one X happens – and perhaps lead to better treatment for X-linked diseases.

In a new paper in Nature Communications, a team of scientists from the University of Michigan Medical School shows that the genetic material in female (but not male) cells makes tiny amounts of a special genetic material called RNA to make one of the two X chromosomes silent. They call this RNA XistAR.

Mrinal K. Sarkar, Srimonta Gayen, Surinder Kumar, Emily Maclary, Emily Buttigieg, Michael Hinten, Archana Kumari, Clair Harris, Takashi Sado, Sundeep Kalantry. An Xist-activating antisense RNA required for X-chromosome inactivation. Nature Communications, 2015; 6: 8564 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9564

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What knot would you tie to go with this ensemble?