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For decades, rumors have been spread about the magical powers of M&M’s. Some claim that green M&M’s act as an aphrodisiac. Sadly, researchers have yet to study the link between green dye and increased sexual desire. But someone did study the dye used for blue M&M’s, and the findings might have a dramatic impact preventing spinal cord injuries.
The dye, known as Brilliant Blue G (BBG), resembles FD&C blue dye No. 1, which gives blue Gatorade and M&M’s their garish hue. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center discovered that if they injected BBG into rats who have suffered suffering paralyzing spinal cord injuries within the last 15 minutes, the rats would be able to walk again. Unfortunately, the rats walked with a limp and turned a little blue. [See photo:]
Maiken Nedergaard, one of the lead researchers, had previously discovered that when a spinal injury occurs, adenosine triphosphate (ATP) floods into the area surrounding the wound. Normally, ATP benefits human cells because it keeps them alive. But in the case of an injury, the sudden influx of ATP overstimulates otherwise healthy neurons and causes them to die of metabolic stress, often creating secondary injury and more spinal cord damage. The ATP cells flock to the spine because they’re attracted to P2X7, or death receptors, found in abundance in spinal neurons.
Nedergaard and her colleagues needed a substance that would block the ATP and P2X7 from latching together. Oxidized ATP stopped the attachment, but had negative side effects. After serendipitously discovering that BBG, a P2X7R antagonist, is similar to FD&C blue dye No.1, researchers injected BBG into the rats’ blood. The dye halted the cell deaths and rats that received the injection walked again. Rats that went without the shots never regained their ability to walk.
Comments (19)
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but how did they find enough mice with spinal cord injuries within 15 minutes? somehow that seems so coincidental… poor mice.
posted by Julie on 8-25-2009 at 1:41 pm
All the rats owed Fat Tony 3 slices of cheese. When they couldn’t pay up, FT had one of his henchrats break throw them off the wheel while they were taking their morning stroll. Hence, the broken backs. The hard part, for the scientists, was getting the mice to make a bad football bet.
posted by Ian on 8-25-2009 at 1:48 pm
Julie – i’d imagine the spinal injuries were created in the lab. I know it’s cruel and it is terrible for those little mice – but think of the larger implications. Imagine paramedics carrying injections of blue m and m dye when they respond to traumas and making it so that someonedoes not end up paralyzed. Animal testing sucks, but does serve an important purpose.
posted by Jeneva on 8-25-2009 at 1:54 pm
What would happen to a rat if they injected it with BBG before a spinal cord injury? Would they still gain the blue appearance? An on that note, what would be the outcome of other dyes injected into the rats?
posted by Steven on 8-25-2009 at 2:03 pm
two by two, paws of blue
posted by ratty on 8-25-2009 at 2:04 pm
” P2X7, or death receptors ”
Wow.
posted by septerr on 8-25-2009 at 2:57 pm
Obviously the dye isn’t toxic to humans, so animal testing is unnecessary considering the fact that there are certainly plenty of people out there willing to submit to experimental treatments. Not to mention that treatments often react differently in humans and mice. I just personally don’t think it’s okay to treat other living things cruelly to further our own existence.
One of the early signs of a serial killer is torturing and killing animals. Just making an observation, not calling scientists serial killers.
That being said – I wish there were naturally occurring blue rats because that is some adorable sh*t right there.
posted by nikki on 8-25-2009 at 3:31 pm
Nikki-
I do respect your aversion to animal testing but I think your “observation” is not pertinent in this discussion.
posted by Mel on 8-25-2009 at 3:41 pm
Why Mel, I think that Nikki’s argument would be catagorized as specious, but I’d be willing to bet (Fat Tony, even) that she knows that full well.
posted by luckyluckygirl on 8-25-2009 at 4:11 pm
@ratty
blue paws probably would have been a lot easier to deal with
posted by Heather on 8-25-2009 at 5:18 pm
Ian, you are so right. I did really well betting on football following my rat Humphrey’s picks, until he died. He only missed twice in his two years. He was terrible with baseball, though.
posted by Barbara on 8-25-2009 at 5:23 pm
Nikki, I would hardly classify neurological research as “torturing and killing animals.”
posted by the creature on 8-25-2009 at 5:53 pm
If all rats were as cute as the little blue guy in the picture, I would probably have two of them as pets.
ReCaptcha: the workaday
posted by EL on 8-25-2009 at 6:46 pm
Wow – tastes delicious, cures paralysis, and creates designer mice! I’m buying stock!
posted by Jill on 8-25-2009 at 8:32 pm
Everyone seems to be ignoring the phrase used twice here, that BBG “is similar to” and “resembles” FD&C Blue No. 1. What is it really? Where does it come from? I may be a little off, but I believe I recently read that the FD&C Blue dye is animal derived, so no matter how you look at that, some animal, somewhere is being involved. Not good to begin with.
MedScape Today says: July 30, 2009 —Brilliant Blue G (BBG), a dye used to visualize transparent tissues in eye surgery and a cousin to the food additive that makes Gatorade blue, is also a candidate for preventing paralysis after spinal-cord injury (SCI).
Intravenous (IV) injections of BBG dramatically reduced secondary damage in rats with SCI and had the rats walking within days, according to data reported in the July 28 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
BBG was given by systemic injection, unlike most other neuroprotectants, which require injection into the damaged spinal cord.
———-
Can anyone tell me what a P2X7R Antagonist is?
Thanks!
posted by dance on 8-25-2009 at 9:41 pm
Basically, P2X7R is a gateway into the cell that is activated by ATP. So the P2X7R antagonist inactivates this gateway.
posted by Mel on 8-26-2009 at 12:28 pm
IV injections, eh? So no massive bottles of Gatorade Blue after you hurt yourself? Probably for the better; I get a bit queasy if I drink too much of that stuff. Still, it’d be cool to have emergency bags of M&M blues at places where back injuries are common. In the first aid kit, right next to the bandages…
recaptcha: ‘Mrs poseur’… but I’m a guy and sincere to boot…
posted by Bob on 8-28-2009 at 2:56 pm
I agree with Bob. A large supply of blue M&M’s should be the first item in everyone’s first aid kit.
posted by peg on 9-28-2009 at 8:43 pm
cruel cruel cruel! i dont care if this could help us in the future! The poor things could’t walk and some were granted that again and some were not!? and i suppose that these scientist just happened to find a rat with a broken back while walking down the street?! NO! So unfair i hate animal testing it benefits us 0%!
posted by Natalie on 11-18-2009 at 9:06 pm