Scientist Paul Wooley has regrown a section of bone in a mammal's leg, a breakthrough he and collaborators say will revolutionize bone medicine worldwide. It will dramatically improve treatment for wounded soldiers and many of the tens of thousands of people seriously injured in traffic accidents every year, he said; it could make many future amputations unnecessary.

"We've grown bone, and we can prove it," Wooley said on Monday.

The breakthrough will also become the first new invention planned as part of an effort by Wichita scientists to create an industry worth millions, and thousands of research and manufacturing jobs in Wichita and Kansas.

The news comes after a year of operation by the Center of Innovation for Biomaterials in Orthopaedic Research, or CIBOR. Wooley, the center's chief scientist, and other scientists at CIBOR say the bone growing project is only the first big breakthrough of many. He says they are within weeks of signing a number of important contracts with businesses and with customers.

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