Like many eureka moments in science, Samuel Weiss was looking for one thing and discovered something else.

His discovery – that adult brains have stem cells – has opened the door to possible cures for neurological damage, including the kind suffered in strokes, multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injuries.

Yesterday, the Calgary scientist was one of six researchers given prestigious Gairdner International Awards at a luncheon in Toronto.

Weiss' find 15 years ago has led him to a more recent discovery – the potential of sexual attraction in repairing damaged brain cells. And it has him warning against financial starvation of basic research.

"The vast majority of new resources are going to applied knowledge," Weiss, 52, said.

But without basic research, "ultimately the pipeline would go dry (because) there will be fewer discoveries," said Weiss, founding director of the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

Weiss stumbled on his initial discovery while trying to keep nerve cells from dying by adding a protein crucial to the life of skin cells. What he instead found was that the protein made the nerve cells divide.

"That accident, which was the consequence of a failed experiment, turned out to be the discovery of neural stem cells," he said.

Stem cells are cells that divide and regenerate other cells. They cause the skin to regenerate when it's cut or flakes off, for example.

Before, it was believed stem cells didn't exist in adult brains. The damage from a severe knock on the head, a stroke, or Alzheimer's disease was believed to be permanent.

"The thought was that the brain didn't regenerate itself and didn't repair itself," Weiss said. "Now we know it can."

Weiss published his team's findings in 1992. "When we tried to get grants on (the research) everybody thought: `These guys in Calgary ... maybe the elevation is a little high.'"

Last year, his team published test results showing that when certain proteins are injected into mice that have suffered strokes, stem cells move to regenerate the injured part of their brains. Mice unable to use their left paw, for example, were suddenly able to do so again.

The same procedure is currently being tested in human stroke victims but hasn't as yet produced positive results, Weiss said.

Weiss' latest work suggests sexual attraction might also help repair damaged brain cells.

When a lioness, for example, comes across the pheromone of a dominant male, its brain produces new cells to store the memory of the scent, Weiss found, so it can choose a proper mating partner.

The same capability is in the human brain, Weiss said, and may prove a way to treat the mentally ill to improve their capacity to bond.