US scientists announce brain damage breakthrough

Scientists in the US say they have made a breakthrough in the battle against brain damage.

Researchers have discovered how to regrow damaged brain cells and regenerate injured spinal cords.

It could lead to a simple injection cure.

Dr Maureen Condic has injected brain-damaged rats with a single gene which 'switched on' a certain protein.

The protein is high in quantity in children and foetuses, but decreases with age.

The gene made it behave as it did in its younger days, triggering growth in brain cells which were not underdeveloped, but damaged.

The study by Dr Condic, from the University of Utah School of Medicine, is being published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

The tests have yet to be carried out on humans.

"It is all quite promising, although of course it's early days yet. But it is really unheard of to see these kind of results," she said.

The breakthrough offers new hope for the future in treating people suffering severe and irreversible injuries such as those sustained through strokes or road accidents.