Prof Alastair Sloan, an expert in bone biology and tissue engineering at Cardiff University, said the work was significant but there remained many hurdles before it would be available to patients.

BBC: Researchers grow teeth from gum cells

The results show that the mole's second thumb is not a real digit but starts out as a wrist bone, the scientists report in Biology Letters.

BBC: Mystery of mole's second thumb solved

In marine biology, scientists are trying to better understand bone-eating "zombie worms" first discovered in 2004.

BBC: Everybody's shuffling: Rise of zombies in modern life

The so-called zombie worms break down bone by excreting acid, according to research just presented at the Society for Experimental Biology's meeting in Salzburg, Austria.

MSN: Zombie worm has no mouth �� but it feasts on whale bones