Cells in the amniotic fluid that surrounds a developing baby can revive ageing and weak bones,say UK scientists, the BBC reports.
[br]The discovery could befriend babies with genetic diseases, or elderly people and even astronauts,they say.
The findings in mice, published in Scientific Reports, and showed cells in the fluid strengthened bone and lop fractures by 80%.
Human clinical trials are planned within the next two years.
The amniotic fluid protects the baby and helps it develop inside the mother's womb.
It also contains stem cells that are the building blocks of other tissues.
The researchers collected the amniotic stem cells from fabric left over from screening tests during pregnancy or collected immediately before birth.
The team at the Institute of Child Health - a collaboration of Great Ormond Street Hospital and University College London - injected the cells into diseased mice.
The animals had brittle bone disease or osteogenesis imperfecta.
In people,the condition affects around one in every 25000 births and can be fatal, with babies born with multiple fractures.
Even those who survive face up to 15 bone fractures a year, and brittle teeth,impaired hearing and growth problems.[br]
Tests on mice showed injecting the cells increased the strength, plasticity and structure of the animal's bones.
The number of fractures was lop to a fifth of their original level.
Source: tert.am