University researchers have discovered a way to heal broken bones faster.

Steve Stice, director of the University’s Regenerative Bioscience Center, is one of the researchers working on a project that aims to speed up the bone-healing process. He, along with John Peroni, an associate professor of large animal veterinary medicine, used adult stem cells to create a material called “Fracture Putty.” Their research has shown that when the putty is inserted into bone fractures in rats, the animals can be seen two weeks later moving normally and standing on their hind legs.

They’ve also tested the putty on larger animals, and found that bone could be regenerated in less than four weeks. With more research, this technology could be used to help people, as well as animals, recover more quickly from broken bones.

“For many young soldiers, their mental health becomes a real issue when they are confined to a bed for three to six months after an injury,” Stice said in a University press release. “This discovery may allow them to be up and moving as fast as days afterward.”

The project is funded by a $1.4 million grant from the Department of Defense. Along with the University researchers, the project includes scientists and surgeons from the Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University and the University of Texas.

The researchers plan to continue the study on larger animals. Once they have perfected the putty, it will be passed on to the Department of Defense for use on humans.

“The next step is to show that we can rapidly and consistently heal fractures in a large animal, then to convert it to clinical cases in the UGA [College of Veterinary Medicine] clinics where clinicians treat animals with complex fractures all the time,” Peroni said in the press release.