Bone defects can be genetic, or a result of disease, injury or even just the result of degeneration over time. In many cases the damage is bad enough that a person’s mobility can be diminished to a great degree.

Now it has been revealed that a graduate student preparing for her doctoral defense in Sweden made an astonishing discovery along the way that may be crucial in the development of stem cell research. Jojanneke Jukes, of the University of Twente in the Netherlands has succeeded in creating bone tissue with the help of embryonic stem cells, and she is apparently the first scientist to do so successfully.

At the beginning of her work Ms. Jukes set out to investigate whether or not it was possible to repair damaged cartilage with the aid of embryonic stem cells. Cartilage within the human body almost never repairs itself, as some other tissues do.

Since it is known that embryonic stem cells can be “programmed” to grow into a defined type of cell, Jukes first began her work by successfully investigating whether embryonic stem cells could indeed be induced to form new and viable cartilage tissue. In order to encourage this development a carrier material is usually used in combination with the stem cells themselves. In her work Jojanneke used both established carrier methods and newly developed ones to try and achieve her goal.

The cells were grown under laboratory conditions, cultured upon various ceramic materials. The resulting cartilage was then implanted into the bodies of a group of mice. It was at this point in her work that Doctor-to-be Jukes got a big surprise.

To her amazement the artificially created cartilage continued to develop into bone tissue, a process that mirrors that that occurs naturally in young children, babies and even embryos, where cartilage is merely a stage in the formation of new bone growth.

The discovery not only excited the young researcher, who defended her doctoral dissertation at the University of Twente  on October 22^nd 2009, but also scores of those in the medical and scientific communities who work with bone defects, as her work represents a potential leap forward in techniques that can be used to potentially repair them. .