Turkey tendons aid bone disease tests

TORTURED turkey tendons could help scientists develop new treatments for failing bones.

In a series of experiments, researchers squeezed the mineralised birds’ tissue to breaking point and bombarded it with powerful X-rays.

The results allowed them to see for the first time how bones react to compression at the molecular level.

Dr Uwe Wolfram, leader of the team from HeriotWatt University, said: “Osteoporosis and osteoarthritis affect millions of people around the world.

“As life expectancy continues to rise, it is critical we have better solutions to manage patients’ conditions and minimise the loss of quality of life, for example by providing personalised treatment solutions. We use mineralised turkey tendons because they show similar composition to human bone with respect to the mineralised collagen fibril (small fibre), but feature a much simpler arrangement of these fibrils.

“We have now captured exactly how these fibres respond to stress. This could lead to far more effective prediction of bone fracture risk and even the development of patientspecific implants to mitigate that risk.”

Heriot-Watt PhD student Alexander Groetsch said: “We now have an idea of how the tissue reacts to external loading at the level of an individual fibre.”