Wooden Bones

I just started up a new project in the lab and my current one has been heating up, so I haven't been as diligent as I would like to be in pushing out my weekly entry. However, I have rededicated myself to learning Chinese as a second language and am happily committed to at least an hour a day to make it stick. As a consolation prize, I will be getting out a couple this week so stay tuned.

One thing that jumped out in the news to me. The Discovery Channel had an article on making a bone implant from wood, how cool is that?

The work was published in Journal of Materials Chemistry by Anna Tampieri at the Institute of Science and Technology for Ceramics, Faenza. They were able to make a bone-mimetic material out of wood for use in supporting bones post-surgery. "The material keeps its original microstructure, exploiting the unique architectural properties of the wood's cellular make-up, explains Tampieri. This means cells and blood vessels can grow through the structure and incorporate it into the original bone." (JoMC article here). How cool is that? I wonder how long it will be before someone figures out how to grow nerve fibers and muscles around it a bio-prosthetic.

Red Beard, eat your heart out!