Researchers Grow Bone Cells on Carbon Nanotubes

March 15, 2006 | Source: KurzweilAI

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have shown, for the first time, that bone cells can grow and proliferate on a scaffold of carbon nanotubes.

Bone crystal growth on carbon nanotube substrate

Bone crystal growth on carbon nanotube substrate

Because carbon nanotubes are not biodegradable, they behave like an inert matrix on which cells can proliferate and deposit new living material, which becomes functional, normal bone, according to the paper. They therefore hold promise in the treatment of bone defects in humans associated with the removal of tumors, trauma, and abnormal bone development and in dental implants.

Source: University of California, Riverside news release