Gene therapy grows bone in mice and rats

It’s been more than 30 years since scientists discovered bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), molecules that spur bone production.  After much experimentation, tests in people show that BMPs can regrow missing or damaged bone.  Some severely injured bone does not respond to this therapy, however, because BMPs need a foundation of living cells to stimulate bone formation.

Using rats and mice as models, researchers at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry in Ann Arbor have now devised a gene therapy that delivers cells making both BMPs and bone itself.