How can we regenerate the traumatically injured spinal cord?

One of the most devastating diseases of the central nervous system is traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI). These injuries produce dramatic physical impairments which limit independency, create social and vocational barriers, and cause financial hardship for patients. With over 1.4 million North Americans affected and direct lifetime costs as high as $1.1–$4.6 million per patient, there is a critical need for effective therapies in this field [1]. The evolving standard of care increasingly recognizes the concept of “time is spine” and the need for expedient medical and surgical intervention analogous to the “time is brain” paradigm in stroke. Timely care...