Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Centre in New York have just released their findings that the food dye used in blue M&Ms, Brilliant Blue G (BBG), may help mend acute spinal injuries, reports UK Telegraph.
Immediately after a spinal injury, too much of the chemical adenosine triphosphate (ATP) surrounds the wound to help it heal, but this causes the healthy neurons to become overstimulated and die, which causes even more trauma. However, the compound BBG blocks ATP and thus prevents further injury.
After conducting preliminary research on rats, the scientists said that rats treated with BBG regained the ability to walk (albeit with a limp), but those not treated never regained mobility.
The only limitations or downsides the scientists foresee are that the BBG must be administered intravenously very quickly after the injury and also that BBG temporarily turns the skin a bright blue color. But hey, the Cookie Monster and the Smurfs already proved that being blue is cool.
Further tests need to be done on the safety of BBG before research on humans can be conducted, but these recent findings gave scientists hope that new cures for spinal injuries will be found in the near future.