In a recent study published in the journal Neuron, researchers reported that they were able to use human stem cells to grow brand new nerves in a rat model of spinal cord injury. The neurons grew tens of thousands of axons that extended the entire length of the spinal cord, out from the area of injury. The procedure induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are stem cells that can be driven to become a specific cell type (in this case nerve cells) to repair an experimentally damaged spinal cord. The iPSCs were made using the skin cells of an 86 year old male, demonstrating that even in an individual of advanced age, the ability of the cells to be turned into a different cell type (pluripotency) remained. The researchers were interested in using iPSCs to develop potential repair for spinal cord injury because it allows them to use stem cells taken from the person with the injury, rather than use donated cells such as human embryonic stem cells, which are foreign to the patient. This is an important advantage because it avoids any immune rejection that could occur with foreign repair cells. To read more about this study, click here.