The blue food coloring, Brilliant Blue G, or BBG, is a chemical cousin of Blue Dye No. 1 used in many food products including blue M&Ms. BBG may lead the way to recovery from spinal cord injury. Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center carried out experiments on rats. Rats who had experimental spinal cord injuries were paralyzed, but those who were immediately injected with Brilliant Blue G recovered the ability to move after about a week. The dye turned the white rats’ ears, noses and paws blue temporarily. It is not likely that BBG will prove to be a cure for people with spinal injuries, but it may be an early step in research that will help people who have been paralyzed.
[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, July 28, 2009]
http://www.pnas.org/content/106/30/12489
