Scientists grow living bone out of stem cells in bid to treat arthritis, osteoperosis and shattered limbs

By Daily Mail Reporter

PUBLISHED: 07:22 EST, 11 June 2012 | UPDATED: 07:53 EST, 11 June 2012

Hope: The technique of growing new bones could one day be used to replace serious breaks and treat degenerative illnesses

Scientists have successfully grown living bones in a laboratory using stem cells, in a technique that could in future be used to replace shattered limbs, treat osteoporosis and arthritis and fix defects such as cleft palate.

The researchers took around a month to transform stem cells originally taken from fat tissue into sections of fully-formed bone up to several centimetres long.

Standard bone grafts involve two procedures, to cut bone from elsewhere in the patient's body before transplanting it into the damaged area, which carry the risk of infection and complications. Bone can also be obtained from donations, but this brings the chance of rejection.

The new method would allow bones to be custom made to shape outside the body, using the patients own stem cells, removing the need for a potentially traumatic operation and reducing the likelihood of rejection.

So far the research has been carried out only on animals but a patient trial is planned for later this year.

The Israeli technology, developed by biotech company Bonus BioGroup and researchers at the Technion Institute of Research, involves growing the bone to fit the exact shape and size of the damaged area.

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Scientists grow living bone out of stem cells in bid to treat arthritis, osteoperosis and shattered limbs