Time for a Manhattan/Apollo Project to cure paralysis

The short survey is at the end!

"I believe that this nation should commit 

itself to achieving the goal, before this decade 

is out, of landing a man on the Moon and 

returning him safely to the Earth. No single 

space project in this period will be more 

impressive to mankind, or more important in 

the long-range exploration of space; and none 

will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish."

- President John F. Kennedy, 25 May 1961

I have been thinking of writing this post for some time to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's declaration to put a man on the moon in less than ten years. I wanted to time it for 25 May when he made the declaration, but recently I got asked a good question in one of the forums I belong to so thought that I wanted to answer it with this blog. 


Basically the question I got asked was, "when are you going to cure paralysis?"

It's a good question because I think it could get done within five to ten years. Not that I'm going to do it by myself, we have to do it together.

John F. Kennedy declared in 1961 that America would land a man on the moon by the end of the decade, and for good or bad, the landing took place in 1969.


Franklin Delano Roosevelt decided to build an atomic bomb, and that horror exploded in Hiroshima and Nagasaki within a few years.

Were FDR or JFK scientists? No, they were LEADERS who DECLARED what science would do. They didn't sit and study science (and I'm not saying we shouldn't), they made it a national priority and then left it to the scientists to make it happen. I'm also not saying that there was no science already in the works to complete these missions, but it wouldn't have happened if an influential world leader didn't put their might behind the projects.

They brought the scientists together, gave them their deadlines, paid for the work 100%, and gave them whatever resources they needed.

They didn't fund private companies and universities to carry out independent work for profit and/or glory. Roosevelt dealt with the only scientist, Eszilard, who argued about his patent by having him fired and not allowing him back on the team until he sold the patent at a reasonable price. You would be right to think of Don Corleone with a gun to a guy's head demanding an answer to an "offer he can't refuse".

Roosevelt didn't send Oppenheimer out on a world tour in a atomic fired wheelchair to raise money and awareness. Kennedy didn't send the Apollo Project scientists out wearing rocket costumes to do little songs and dances for rich investors and donors to get the cash for the Apollo spacecraft. No. Roosevelt and Kennedy worried about the money and let the scientists do their important work collaboratively and with a deadline in mind.

Of course there were naysayers and even some scientists said that these things couldn't be done, but they were done, because they were declared.

At this point in history we are further ahead in curing paralysis than what was scientifically available before both the Manhattan and Apollo projects were launched.

We have leading scientists in the field of spinal cord regeneration who are very clear in their statements of "not if but when" in regards to a cure for spinal cord injury.

Therefore I say the when is within five to ten years of the cure for paralysis being made a(n) (inter)national priority we can cure paralysis.

The national priority part is up to me, you, and others who want paralysis cured.

I don't care which country does it first. We must truly be internationalists to solve this problem.

Just because I'm interested in what people think is getting in the way of a cure for paralysis caused by an injury to the spinal cord, I have this short poll that I would like you to take.
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