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Published On July 23, 2006
TECHNOLOGY
Chilled to the Bone
As more people receive joint implants, one company hopes to make a synthetic bone that works with the body, not against it.
As the number of knee- and hip-replacement surgeries increases every year, scientists have been searching for bone substitutes that are both stronger and kinder to the immune system. A team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif., has developed a ceramic composite that approximates the mineral-rich armor coating of oyster and abalone shells.
The material, four times stronger than the metal alloys and ceramics now used in synthetic bone, was made by freezing a mixture of water and powdered hydroxyapatite (a mineral prevalent in human bones), then sublimating the concoction, leaving behind densely layered crystals of bone matter. The scientists reduced the thickness of each layer to a mere micron, nearly matching that of nacre. They think the porous material will act as scaffolding upon which new bone cells can regenerate—allowing an artificial joint to become more natural.
Dispatches

What Makes a Kid Clumsy? More research into coordination disorders shows why some children are more prone to trip, fumble and spill the milk.

Eyes in the Sky Satellite data can be used to assess the health impact of dust storms and the spread of mosquito-borne diseases. Additional applications could be on the horizon.

Could This One Change Help Curb the Opioid Crisis? To prescribe an effective bridge to addiction treatment, emergency physicians must get special training and receive a waiver. Making that process easier—or eliminating the requirement altogether—could make a big impact.

One Thing Leads to the Next Robert Lefkowitz is best known for revealing the mechanism behind hundreds of drugs in use today. But he thinks of himself as a storyteller first and has a new book out to make his case.

Podcast: The Research Year That Was Medical research labs have faced a difficult stretch of closed buildings and competing priorities. Yet they have also produced milestone discoveries—and not only on COVID-19.

The Shape of Us Two milestone discoveries in protein modeling promise to change the fundamentals of drug discovery.

Universal Flu Vaccines Move Forward In the shadow of coronavirus vaccine development, another vaccine was making solid progress.

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