A small molecule to prevent rogue bone formation

A new small molecule could treat and prevent excess bone formation. Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva (FOP) is an extremely rare disease estimated to affect about one in 2 million people worldwide. People with the condition experience heterotopic ossification, in which bone replaces skeletal muscle and connective tissue. "Usually by adolescence, children's necks are involved, their shoulders are involved, and they can't extend their elbows, they can't reach over their heads; in fact, they maybe can't raise their arms at all. And later in life, during the second, third decade, heterotopic bone forms in the jaw and in the lower limbs. Eventually, they essentially form a second skeleton," says Frederick Kaplan , an expert in the condition at Penn Medicine who was not involved in the new research. The condition complicates the healing process after an injury too. Normally, when someone has a minor injury like a bruise, the injury heals by