Israeli breakthrough: first human spinal cord repair using patient’s own cells

A groundbreaking surgery that could enable paralysed patients to walk again is set to take place in Israel, using the world’s first personalised engineered human spinal cord implant.

The revolutionary procedure has been developed by Professor Tal Dvir, head of the Sagol Centre for Regenerative Biotechnology, head of the Nanotechnology Centre at Tel Aviv University, and chief scientist of the biotech company Matricelf.

Dvir, who has received preliminary approval from Israel’s Ministry of Health for “compassionate use” trials in eight patients, said this represented a matter of national pride.

“The technology was developed here in Israel, at Tel Aviv University and at Matricelf, and from the very beginning it was clear to us that the first-ever surgery would be performed in Israel, with an Israeli patient,” he said.

The breakthrough follows three years of research that began when Dvir’s laboratory successfully engineered a personalised three-dimensional human spinal cord. The findings, published in Advanced Science, demonstrated that mice with chronic paralysis began walking again after receiving the engineered implants.