The genes that can be used to repair the spinal cord in a fish also exist in the human

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Published the 17.01.2018 at 08: 00

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The man descends from the ape. And he shares genes of interest with a fish ! Us researchers found also in man of the genes that are involved in the repair of spontaneous spinal cord in the lamprey, a species of fish. The results of this study have been published in the medical journal Scientific Report.

The lamprey repairs alone

“For years, scientists know that the lamprey manages to treat only the injury to the spinal cord, but the principle molecular linked to this remarkable ability had never been identified,” says Dr. Bloom, associate professor at the Institute Feinstein’s, where took place the research.
This fish manages to recover from an injury of this kind in the next 10 to 12 weeks, this is enough for him to regain his full capabilities of swimming.

An ancestor in common with humans

The lamprey looks like an eel. His genetic heritage shows that there are more than 500 million years, this animal species shared an ancestor with humans. “In this study, we determined all genes that are activated during the healing of sea lamprey “, adds the professor.
Some genes are also part of the Wnt signal, which is important in tissue development and regeneration in several animal species. It would now be necessary to determine if the regeneration process in humans are consistent with the lamprey.

This research, however, represents a hope of finding therapeutic treatments for the lesions of the spinal cord in man.