How a tiny tropical fish could hold the cure to motor neurone disease

A tiny tropical fish could provide the key to curing motor neurone disease and some forms of paralysis, scientists believe.

Scottish researchers have found that zebrafish are capable of producing new motor neurones - the cells that control muscle movements like walking - when repairing damage to their spinal cord.

The team believes the discovery could lead to a drug for the nerve illness that has crippled Professor Stephen Hawking and help people paralysed by spinal damage, like Superman star Christopher Reeve.