Irish researchers have come up with a new and safer way of repairing bone using synthetic grafts.

Researchers at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) have used synthetic bone graft material combined with gene therapy in order to mimic real bone tissue.

They say this has the potential to regenerate bone in patients who may have suffered bone damage or loss due to disease or injury.

The researchers have developed an innovative material which acts as a platform to attract the body's cells and repair bone in the damaged area using gene therapy.

The cells are 'tricked' into overproducing bone producing proteins known as BMPs, encouraging regrowth of healthy bone tissue.

"This is the first time these in-house synthesised nanoparticles have been used in this way and the method has potential to be applied to regenerate tissues in other parts of the body," the researchers said.

They point out that previous synthetic bone grafts have used proteins, but there were concerns that using high doses of these proteins patients might lead to side effects and could even cause cancer.

Other existing gene therapies use viral methods which also carry side effects risks, they said.

However, they say because the new method involves stimulating the body to produce the bone-producing protein itself, these negative side effects can be avoided and bone tissue growth can be promoted efficiently and safely.

The research is the result of a collaborative project carried out between the Tissue Engineering Research Group led by Professor Fergal O'Brien and Dr Garry Duffy at the RCSI; Professor Kazuhisa Bessho, Kyoto University, Japan; and Dr. Glenn Dickson, Queen's University Belfast.

It involves a multi-disciplinary research effort between cell biologists, clinicians and engineers.

Results of this study were recently published in the journal Advanced Materials, with Dr. Caroline Curtin, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Anatomy, RCSI, as first author.