Award for pioneering stem cell research to mend broken bones

PA 142/09 The University of Nottingham has been awarded £1.12m to play its part in pioneering research which could lead to the development of new and better treatments for broken bones and other orthopaedic problems associated with ageing. The Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) has awarded nearly £4m to scientists from Keele University, Imperial College London, The University of Nottingham and the University of Southampton. They will work together combining stem cell science and tissue engineering to look at the development and repair of human skeletal tissue. Fractures, bone loss due to trauma or disease and other orthopaedic conditions pose a significant clinical and socioeconomic problem, especially with an aging population, but as yet there is no large scale effective treatment for replacing or repairing damaged bones. Scientists in the Centre for Biomolecular Sciences at The University of Nottingham are developing new materials which harness the ability of the body's own stem cells to make new bone grow faster and stronger. Their research has already helped to produce polymer materials that fill the space left by trauma - such as a break or the removal of a tumour. These materials temporarily support the wound and provide a surface for the body's own stem cells to migrate to encouraging new blood vessels and bone tissue to grow.