Adaptation of the Rat Femur to a Force of 2g

When this thesis was published in 1993 adaptation to microgravity remained poorly understood. The present study analyzes the change in the mid-diaphysis and distal sections of the Rat femur after exposure to a force of 2g. The morphological structure of the femur is within the findings of recent spaceflight experiments. However there is a visible increase in the number of osteons in some of the specimens. These visible features signal the adaptation of the rat femur to the stress situation.The project set out to determine if changes during loading, in this case living at 2g, in bone is on the tissue or biochemical level and whether the morphological character of collagen fiber orientation changes due to this environmental stress. The project was selected with the goal of contributing to the reverse engineering of bone. The research done in this Thesis is one of the earliest, if not the first, examples of bioengineering bone. The images here have been digitally enhanced, made clearer and bubbles were removed in the medium for this digital publication. Measurement bars were made clearer and solid for this publication for easier viewing. All original research: writing (except in the case of spelling corrections), photographs of the specimens themselves, schematics and original tables have been preserved from the original 1993 Thesis.