Treatment with human stem cells has allowed mice crippled by a version of multiple sclerosis to walk again after less than two weeks.

Scientists admit to being astonished by the result and believe it opens up a new avenue of research in the quest for solutions to MS.

Prof Tom Lane, from the University of Utah, who led the US team, recalled: My postdoctoral fellow Dr Lu Chen came to me and said the mice are walking. I didnt believe her.

The mice had a condition that mimics the symptoms of human MS. They were so disabled they could not stand long enough to eat and drink and had to be hand-fed.

The scientists transplanted human neural stem cells into the mice expecting them to be rejected. But within 10 to 14 days, the mice had regained motor skills and were able to walk again.

Six months later, they showed no sign of relapsing.

The findings, published in the journal Stem Cell Reports, suggest the mice experienced at least a partial reversal of their symptoms.

A similar outcome in humans could help patients with potentially disabling progressive stages of the disease for which there are no treatments.

This result opens up a whole new area of research for us to figure out why it worked, said co-author Dr Jeanne Loring, director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California.

Weve long forgotten our original plan.

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MS mice walk after stem cell treatment