Bones 'grown' in the lab for the first time

Irish scientists have found a way to grow bone tissue in the laboratory by sending impulses through stem cells.

Bone surface under microscope. Photo: Getty Images

According to the newspaperIndependent(UK), the new achievement is expected to be used in the future to replace or repair damaged bones in the human body.

Scientists have used technology originally developed to detect gravitational waves to create bone grafts containing engineered tissue.

Bone is the second most abundant graft tissue after blood and is commonly used in orthopedic, plastic, and maxillofacial surgery.

However, surgeons currently harvest only a limited amount of bone from the patient himself for use in bone tissue transplants. Bone from other donors is often rejected by the patient's body.

Therefore, with the achievement of growing 3D bone tissue in the laboratory, researchers from the universities of Glasgow, Strathclyde and West of Scotland hope the new technique will help solve the problem of rejection during transplantation.

Scientists have been able to use this bone-growing technology to save a dog's leg, saving the animal from amputation. They hope to begin human trials in about three years.

The research report on this breakthrough achievement was published in the latest issue of the professional journalNature Biomedical Engineering.

According to TTO