Thaindian News

Now candy eating may not entirely be an exercise in guilty calorie-hoarding. If latest studies are to be believed, apparently, the good old Smurfy M&Ms may have their very own medical contribution to boast of.

According to reports of studies conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, a blue dye, namely Brilliant Blue G, or BBG in short, which happens to be very similar in chemical composition to the FD&C dye No1 that is used in blue M&Ms, holds curative powers which could potentially be used to treat serious paralyzing spinal injuries.

According to lab experiments performed on rats, the rodents after having suffered a paralyzing spinal injury, were injected with the blue dye after an interval of about 15 minutes. It was observed, that the injected rats, after having turned blue for some time, regained their ability to walk, if only so with a slight limp. Meanwhile, the rats that had not been administered with the dye, too came around, but to a markedly lesser extent than the BBG rats.

It is believed by the scientists who engaged in the studies, that the disabling of Adenosine Triphosphate that is achieved by the blue chemical dye, might hold the answer to this medical enigma. Adenosine Triphosphate or ATP, as it is known, is the chemical that keeps cells alive and functional. However, in the event of a spinal injury, the chemical apparently floods and kills off the surrounding cells around the injured area, thereby producing the paralysis effect. And that’s where BBG steps in and intervenes.