Why Science is Cool

On Thursday, Australia Day, Professor Alan Mackay-Sim was named the Australian of the Year.  He got that title because his research was on the nose…olfactory ensheathing (nose) cells to be exact. 

Back in the 1980s, Prof. Mackay-Sim realized the very special cells inside the nose, that most kids pick, actually die every day only to be regenerated again the next day. I wonder how he came up with that idea, hmm? Anyway, he posed two questions; if the cells regenerate daily, do they have the potential to help regenerate other cells like in the spinal cord, and; if it could, could it be done safely in humans?

After years of research, he designed the procedure that took the cells from the nose, purified them and injected into the spinal cord at the top and bottom of the spinal injury.  Around five years ago, a European medical team conducted the first procedure on a 40 year old Polish man who became a paraplegic after a stabbing incident.  Three years on and after some intensive physiotherapy the man is able to walk with the assistance of a frame.

Not content with that, the now retire Professor also campaigned for using stem cells to gain a better understanding of brain disorders and diseases like Parkinson’s, schizophrenia and motor neurone disease. Mackay-Sim and his team have already identified the difference in nerve cell regeneration in bipolar and schizophrenia so it is proving helpful in understanding how the diseases develop in the first place.

It is for this reason, and many, many others why I think science is cool.

ABC. (2017). Australia of the year: Professor Alan Mackay-Sim linked nerve cells in your nose to spinal cord repairs. Retrieved January 2017 from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-01-26/the-amazing-work-of-professor-alan-mackay-sim/8214882