On Cornell Engineering Week: There are still mysteries to uncover about the bones in our body.

Eve Donnelly, associate professor of materials science and engineering, looks into some to find out.

Eve Donnelly is an associate professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Cornell University, where her research focuses on the microscopic structure and composition of connective tissues, especially bone, determine their strength, resilience, and susceptibility to fracture. Her work focuses on how the organic and inorganic components of bone interact to create its mechanical properties, and how those interactions change in disease. The long-term goal of her research is to integrate materials science with orthopedic medicine to uncover the mechanisms behind pathologic fractures.

We tend to think we’ve got bones all figured out. They hold us up, protect our organs, and – as we have learned from a young age – they get stronger with calcium, vitamin D, and exercise. But there is still a lot we don’t understand about what makes bones truly strong and healthy.Take Type 2 diabetes, for example. People with this condition tend to have denser bones than average. One would think that would make them less likely to break. Yet, paradoxically, people with diabetes are more likely to have fractures.In my lab, we study why. It turns out that having more bone isn’t the same as having better bone. Healthy bone is a natural composite, part mineral for strength, part collagen for flexibility. In diabetes, excess sugar in the bloodstream can stick to the collagen and form unwanted crosslinks that make the tissue more brittle.We used high-resolution imaging and other techniques to look deep inside diabetic bone and found that it has more of the harmful crosslinks and less renewal of old bone by the bone cells, which could allow it to develop tiny cracks that build up over time. So even when the bone looks fine on a density scan, it’s more fragile than it seems.This research helps explain why current diagnostic tools, which focus mainly on bone density, can fail to predict fracture risk in people with diabetes. By uncovering how sugar compounds alter bone material, we can work toward better screening methods, and therapies that promote bone quality, not just density.Bones may look simple on the surface, but they’re remarkable, living materials that hold mysteries we’re only beginning to unravel. And each new discovery brings us closer to understanding how to keep our bones healthy and resilient for a lifetime.

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