Coloring for blue M&Ms found to heal spinal injuries

In what has to be one of the more bizarre bits of medical news we've heard lately, the blue dye used to give blue M&Ms their color has been found to help mend severe spinal injuries.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York discovered that when tested on laboratory rats, Brilliant Blue G blocks the action of a chemical that causes more damage to neural tissue around an already injured area. Rats with damaged spines who received injections of BBG eventually regained the ability to walk, while those that did not receive the BBG treatment never recovered. The one side effect found so far: injections of BBG causes the skin to temporarily turn bright blue.

Research is still being conducted, but it's thought that human trials with BBG may begin within the next few years.

(I wonder if Brilliant Blue G can counteract all those effects of Yellow 5 in Mountain Dew that my old roomie used to tell me about...)