http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=repairing-the-damaged-spinal-cord
<p>Editor’s Note: This story, originally printed in the September 1999 issue of Scientific American, is being posted due to a new study showing that nerve cells can be regenerated by knocking out genes that typically inhibit their growth.</p> <p>For Chinese gymnast Sang Lan, the cause was a highly publicized headfirst fall during warm-ups for the 1998 Goodwill Games. For Richard Castaldo of Littleton, Colo., it was bullets; for onetime football player Dennis Byrd, a 1992 collision on the field; and for a …</p>