ATLANTA -- Dr. Jonathan Glass says, “Absolutely, it’s a very significant finding.”

He’s reacting to new stem cell research conducted by doctors at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Stem cells are building blocks that can turn into different tissues. Using stem cells from mice embryos and a mixture of different growth chemicals, doctors at Hopkins were able to make a partially paralyzed rat walk again.

And why does this excite experts in the field?

“One of the major obstacles to stem cell treatments in humans is how do we get the cells to where they need to be and how do we make them do what we want them to do,” explains Dr. Glass.

And what’s really dramatic about the work at Hopkins is that doctors were not only able to turn the mice stem cells into neurons or spinal nerve cells, but they were also – by using the right kind of chemicals – able to literally make these neurons re-grow the circuit to the leg muscles allowing the mice to walk.

“And not only did these things grow out, but they made it back to the muscles they re-innovated the muscles and the animals actually regained some strength that they lost so it’s an extraordinary finding,” Dr. Glass says.

What disease model does this offer potential hope for?

“For the types of neurological injuries that we see, the ones I would think would be spinal cord injuries, and ALS or Lou Gherig’s Disease and possibly even things like multiple sclerosis,” says Dr. Glass.

And while Dr. Glass believes it will be years before similar tests are conducted on humans, he says these findings will open new doors in the field of stem cell research.

“Whether this will be transferable to human diseases is still a question but at the same time it’s extraordinary that in a mammal like a rat, they could get the nervous system to regenerate itself.”