Spinal cord injury continues to be a major cause of morbidity, particularly among young people involved in vehicle-related trauma, falls, and sports injuries. Although research advances are still a long way from clinical treatments, recent studies on animals have indicated new possibilities for recovery of function. In this review, these new findings on the use of neurotrophic factors, antibodies to inhibitory molecules, electrical stimulation, and transplantation of peripheral nerves and olfactory glial cells, and their success in achieving functional recovery after adult spinal cord lesions are discussed.