Smelling cells in the nose have provided the first ever cure for spinal paralysis, it was announced last night.
The cell transplants, discovered in London, UK, have helped a man called Darek, from Bulgaria, to recover his ability to move his legs.
Darek had been paralysed in a stabbing attack.
The London researchers worked with surgeons in Poland on the project with backing from campaigners at the Nicholls Spinal Injury Foundation.
Today they announce their discovery in the journal Cell Transplant.
According to the researchers, they have successfully used smelling cells from the nose to bridge the injury in the spinal cord that leads to paralysis.
The treatment became possible because Professor Geoffrey Raisman, from University College, London, studied so-called olfactory bulbs – which capture smell. His studies showed how the body repairs its sense of smell by creating new nerve fibres, which are able to enter the bulbs.
This is made possible by olfactory ensheathing cells – and transplanting these has helped nerve fibres in the human spine to regrow, according to the researchers.
The operation was undertaken by Dr Pawel Tabakow, of the Neurosurgery Department of Wroclaw Medical University, Poland. Some four months after the operation Darek began o recover and has since been able to walk with a frame.
David Nicholls founded the charity for his son Dan, who was paralysed at the age of 18 in 2003.
He said: "I promised Dan that I would not give up until a cure had been found. Professor Geoffrey Raisman and Dr Pawel Tabakow’s breakthrough marks the first step.
"The scientific information relating to this significant advancement will be made available to other researchers around the world so that together we can fight to finally find a cure for this condition which robs people of their lives."
Professor Raisman said: "We believe that this procedure is the breakthrough which – as it is further developed – will result in a historic change in the currently hopeless outlook for people disabled by spinal cord injury."
Functional regeneration of supraspinal connections in a patient with transected spinal cord following transplantation of bulbar olfactory ensheathing cells with peripheral nerve bridging. Cell Transplantation 21 October 2014
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