It is not often you hear anyone singing the praises of a food additives, let alone food dye. Brilliant Blue G, the dye found in blue M&Ms and Gatorade, has a lot more going on than a super-awesome, old-school gangsta name: it might help to decrease the severity of spinal cord injuries.
When the spinal cord is injured, molecular changes occur at the injury site, making the initial injury considerably worse — the body sends healing cells to the site but they go overboard and attack healthy cells as well. When Brilliant Blue G was given intravenously to rats with spinal injuries, the blue dye inhibited the cellular attack that killed healthy cells. The rats were able to walk postinjury, although they retained a bit of a limp. The control group, which received no dye, never walked again. The one side effect is that the rats treated with blue dye turned blue for a while.
Administering Brilliant Blue G immediately after a spinal cord injury could have a dramatic impact on how accident victims are treated and recover. The group at University of Rochester that made this medical discovery are gearing up for clinical trials. The blue dye has already been approved for human consumption, since it's in Jell-O, candy, and drinks, so let's hope the research is funded quickly. It could transform lives.
Takahiro Takano, University of Rochester Medical Center
Gabor
Whoa, that is insane. I really hope that this research pans out into a useful treatment. That would help so many people...I wonder if it would be useful for those with ALS and/or MS as well?
1This is quite possibly the cutest picture I've ever seen....who knew food dye could actually be useful??
2Hpnotiq is blue, it would have been a fun lil experiment to give a bunch of rats some.
3I want a blue rat!
4I have mixed feelings about this. This poor rat was deliberately given a spinal injury to experiment with blue dye?? Is that why he's lying on his belly like that (with a chin rest)??
While I value this research, this is a saddening cost.
Animal experimentation -- a necessary evil, I suppose. Sigh.
5Spectra,
6Researcher believe this technique would only be useful immediately after an injury. The dye helps block a sort of secondary swelling the end up cutting off more circulation to the injured ares.
they turned blue ,, poor mice
7I feel sad that the poor rats had to receive a spinal injury for this research, although if there is a medical breakthrough it is worth it. The blue color is quite cute though.
I'm sure PETA is going to have a fit over this.
8oh please, PETA schmeta. if we are able to save human lives, or at least quality of life, for those with spine injuries, turn every damn rat in the world blue for all I care.
9I'm actually doing research on dyes, albeit not for spinal injuries, but they are extremely useful stuff such as for detection purposes
Spectra: btw based off the article, the dye helps to stop the overproduction of ATP(an energy source of our body) upon the spinal injury, but it causes more damage than good. MS is based upon damage and destruction of myelin sheaths, a kind of insulated wrapping around our nerves. Hope that helps
10mamasitamali - I have no problem with research using animals to make medical breakthroughs. I was being sarcastic about PETA since they consider killing a fly worthy of a hanging. THis is just something else they will jump on, regardless of it being a worthy cause or not.
11What I want to know is who even thought of trying blue dye? I mean, where do they even come up with this?
12I wonder if doctors and nurses would listen to me if I pleaded for blue Gatorade for me or someone I knew who was injured...I'm guessing no...
13Dyes have been proposed as carcinogenic. What will happen with this regard with brilliant blue g?
14I really think the blue rat is adorable. I sort of want one.
15Well, even if it does only help those with acute spinal cord injuries, that's still a HUGE step forward. And yeah, if they have to inject a few rats with dye, so be it. Rats are pretty expendable, IMHO.
16I'm pleased to see that I'm not the only one that:
a) Is displeased by the idea of hurting those poor little animals but is all for testing if it means bettering our medicine
and
b) Thinks blue rats are omg adorable.
17Yeah, I'd REALLY like to know who came up with this. I mean, where's the connection. Spinal injury + blue dye = medical miracle. How about green dye for heart attacks and yellow dye for drug addicts? There's got to be an interesting story behind this. Maybe an HBO movie???
18This rat is getting better treatment for his spinal injury then some of the people in the U.S. peta shouldn't really complain.
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