Question

How can bone structure be changed?

Answer 1

Bone is a rigid tissue which forms the skeleton in vertebrates. It protects the organs. The structure of bone consists of cells which are enclosed in hard intercellular material. It is made up of collagen, calcium and phosphate.

Complete answer:
The bone is made up of three types of cells-
Osteoblasts- These cells are involved in repair of the old bones and making up of new bone.
Osteocytes- These are inactive osteoblasts. They facilitate communication within bone tissue.
Osteoclasts- These are larger cells with many nuclei. Their main job is to break the bone. It is responsible for bone remodelling.

The bone structure can be changed in the following ways-
1)Osteogenesis- It is the process of bone tissue formation. It is the process in which the new bone material called the osteoblasts are laid down. In this process, the bone is formed on the soft tissue and occurs during the embryonic development, in the growth stages and also during healing.

2)Bone modelling- It is the process in which the bone is shaped and reshaped by the action of osteoblast and osteoclasts. The skeletal development and growth continues throughout lifetime.

3)Bone remodelling- It is a lifelong process in which the mature or differentiated bone tissues are removed and the new bone tissues are formed. This process controls the reshaping or replacement of bones after injury.

Note: The old bone tissue becomes hard and brittle. So, it is to be replaced by the new tissues. This process is triggered by stress factors like exercise. The reshaping of bone takes place when the weight is placed on it as a result of gravity. It leads to demineralisation of bone.