Amazing report on brain research at MIT

This one blows my mind. I remember the story, it struck a deep cord
in me when I first read it at age ten.
To have anything like it (though the comparison is one that does not
stand up to strenuous scrutiny) is a bit frightening.
I hope, with all my heart, that this research turns into something
wonderful for anyone born with this problem, and for their families
as well.

Scientists Reverse Mental Retardation in Mice

from Scientific American

In a case of life imitating art, researchers at the Massachusetts
Institute
of Technology (M.I.T.) reported today that they had successfully
reversed
mental retardation in mice, just as scientists did in the classic 1966
novel Flowers for Algernon.

In the book by Daniel Keyes, scientists use experimental surgery - first
tested on a mouse named Algernon - to dramatically boost the
intelligence
of a mentally retarded janitor named Charlie Gordon.

Now M.I.T. scientists report in Proceedings of the National Academy
of the
Sciences USA that they ameliorated brain damage in mice caused by a
genetic
disorder known as fragile X syndrome by blocking an enzyme involved in
cellular development.

To read more: http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=6901F70B-

E7F2-99DF-3648F0789D1EC063&chanID=sa003

Or: http://tinyurl.com/2e6kwx