 Hi everyone, this is Mary from Understanding Animal Research and today we're going to be talking about the most important animal research news stories from February 2022. This month's big news story is how an electrical implant has helped a paralysed man to walk again. Five years ago, Michelle Rocatti's spine was completely severed in a motorbike accident and he was left with no feelings in his legs. But a surgically attached spinal cord implant has meant that he and eight other paralysed people have been able to walk again. The implant works by bridging the gap between the neurons that exist on either side of the severed spinal cord. The implant sends electrical currents to the neurons below the severed spinal cord, which stimulates movements in the legs. This medical device is the result of three decades of research, including vital studies in rats and monkeys. And whilst research has stressed that that isn't yet ready to be used in everyday life, the device still marks a major step towards improving overall quality of life. In last month's news, we spoke about mRNA technology being used to temporarily reprogram T cells inside the body to reverse heart damage in mice. This month we saw a similar news story, but this time the T cells were programmed outside of the body using blood samples. This research initially developed in mice and monkeys was used to treat patients with blood cancer, turning their T cells into cancer destroying cells. It has now been 10 years since the patients were treated and cancer killing cells are still present in their blood with no sign of cancer returning. Scientists have regrown amputated frog limbs thanks to a new device infused with regeneration chemicals that reduce inflammation, promote growth of blood vessels and muscles and prevent scar tissue. After 18 months, the frogs had regrown legs with digit-like structures at the ends that function similarly to the original leg. The research is a major step forward in regeneration medicine and the team are now testing this innovative approach in mammals. For the first time, a robot has successfully carried out intricate gastrointestinal surgery on a pig with minimal human intervention and the results were significantly better than those achieved by human surgeons. Surgeries like this are challenging for doctors as they require a lot of accuracy and consistency. Even a slight hand tremor or misplaced stitch can result in a leak that could lead to a patient suffering fatal complications. Robotic surgery could be a way to ensure that these tasks can be performed with more accuracy. And finally, this month a referendum in Switzerland calling for a ban on animal research was overwhelmingly rejected by 79-21%. MPs and scientists worked together to ensure the Swiss public were fully informed and recognised the importance of animal research. This was the fourth time the Swiss have voted against banning animal research since 1985. That's it from us this month. If you would like to learn more about animal research and the stories mentioned in this video, you can find all the information on our website. Thank you for watching. Don't forget to subscribe to our channel for more animal research videos.