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SCI Research Articles
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New Scientist
Two men paralysed on one side of their body can walk again, thanks to an ingenious implant that uses signals from a healthy leg to control a paralysed one.
Both men, aged 47 and 64, had been paralysed by strokes. Previously neither could walk unaided. But after sensors were placed over certain muscle groups on the healthy leg and stimulators implanted in the paralysed leg, they can now walk, stand and sit.
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New Scientist
Nerve cells extracted from a patient's own nose could one day be used to cure paralysis. At least, that is the hope of neuroscientists in Australia who have announced the beginning of tests on people.
The team, led by Alan Mackay-Sim of Griffith University in Brisbane, has recruited three people who have been paralysed from the waist down for between six months and three years, and plans to enlist another five. Half the patients will receive a spinal injection of the nasal cells.
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The Guardian
Brain implants that could allow severely disabled people to control prosthetic limbs with their minds could be ready for use within two years, according to a team of scientists. Their claim comes after tests with monkeys showed that the animals could control a robotic arm using just their thoughts.
The brain implants could have a wider use, enabling people to operate machinery if they are unable to do so by any other means.
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Wired
In a scientific first, Korean researchers announced this week that they culled stem cells from a human clone. They did this not because they want to make carbon copies of people, but because they hope their research will lead to lifesaving therapies for maladies like Alzheimer's disease or spinal injuries.
But when most people think of cloning, they often think of renegade scientists sneaking women away in the night to take their eggs and re-create someone's departed relative. Or they envision baby farms where emotionless scientists steal organs for wealthy patients.
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Imperial College London
A preliminary study has shown for the first time that it may be possible to help people who have suffered partial damage to their spinal cord by applying a magnetic therapy to their brain.
Writing in this month's Spinal Cord, a team of UK doctors describe how patients with incomplete spinal cord injuries received repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), leading to improvements in their ability to move muscles and limbs, and ability to feel sensations.
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BBC
A team of US researchers has shown that controlling devices with the brain is a step closer.
Four people, two of them partly paralysed wheelchair users, successfully moved a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes.
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