A team of researchers has been able to unveil a lot about how zebra fish would be able to provide relief from spinal cord injury. It is believed that the findings have raised hopes that those who are partly or completely paralysed after such injury would be able to get some sort of relief.

It was further told by the team led by Yona Goldshmit and Peter Currie, professor, at the Monash University’s Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute (ARMI), that a protein in the name of fibroblast growth factor (fgf) had a huge role to play in the same. it was also revealed that after one gets the injury, the immune system gets activated, thereby charging up specialized cells called glia so as to negate the risk of bleeding.

“Glia are the workmen of nervous system. The glia proliferate, forming bigger cells that span the wound site in order to prevent bleeding into it. They come in and try to sort out problems. A glial scar forms”, said Peter Currie, who spearhead the research, who further claimed that the zebra fish was able to fully regenerate its spinal cord within two months of injury.

It was also told that there are fair chances that by changing the protein in the zebra fish, the speed of the tissue repair would be made possible.