A synthetic bone matrix offers hope for babies born with craniosynostosis, a condition that causes the plates in the skull to fuse too soon. Implants replacing some of the infant’s bone with the biodegradable matrix could eliminate some of the operations currently used to treat the condition.

“The remarkable thing about this is the finding that the composition of the matrix changes what the cells around it do. Cells begin producing natural drugs to drive bone healing in direct response to the composition of the bone matrix,” said Kent Leach, professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis.

The material is currently being tested in experiments with rats. Human trials will depend upon the success of tests in animals.

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