New Artificial Bone Made of Wood  A human skeleton under X-ray.
Italian scientists have created a new kind of artificial bone
derived from wood. When implanted, the artificial bone should
allow live bones to heal faster and more securely. Getty Images
A new procedure to turn blocks of wood into artificial bones has
been developed by Italian scientists, who plan to implant them
into large animals, and eventually humans.  Wood-derived bone
substitute should allow live bones to heal faster and more
securely after a break than currently available metal and
ceramic implants.break than currently available metal and
ceramic implants.  The researchers chose wood because it closely
resemble the physical structure of natural bone, "which is
impossible to reproduce with conventional processing
technology."  "Our purpose is to convert native wood structures
into bioactive, inorganic compounds destined to substitute
portions of bone," said Anna Tampieri, a scientist at the
Instituto Di Scienza E Techologia Dei Materiali