A paralysed dachshund has learned to walk again after cells taken from his nose were used to bridge the breaks in his spinal cord.
Jasper, who has been unable to walk since 2008, has now been described as his owner as “whizzing around the house”.
The study offers new hope for paralysed human beings and is the first demonstration of effective spinal cord repair in “real life” injury cases.
Professor Robin Franklin, one of the study leaders from Cambridge University, said: "Our findings are extremely exciting because they show for the first time that transplanting these types of cell into a severely damaged spinal cord can bring about significant improvement."
Jasper's owner Mrs May Hay, from Cambridge, said: "Before the trial, Jasper was unable to walk at all. When we took him out we used a sling for his back legs so that he could exercise the front ones. It was heartbreaking. But now we can't stop him whizzing round the house and he can even keep up with the two other dogs we own. It's utterly magic."
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