Paralysed rats have been able to walk again after their spinal cords were bathed in chemicals and zapped with electricity, scientists have shown.
An injury to the spinal cord stops the brain controlling the body.
The study, in the journal Science, showed injured rats could even learn to sprint with spinal stimulation.
Experts said it was an "exceptional study" and that restoring function after paralysis "can no longer be dismissed as a pipedream".
In 2011, a man from Oregon in the US was able to stand up again while his spinal cord was stimulated with electricity. Rob Summers had been paralysed from the chest down after being hit by a car.
Now researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) say they have restored far more movement in rats which became able to run and climb stairs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18257077
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