OI is a genetic disorder affecting 20,000 to 50,000 adults, children and infants in the United States.
Bones break easily, often from little or no apparent cause.
There are at least four types of OI, representing extreme variation in severity from one person to another. A person may have just a few or as many as several hundred fractures in a lifetime. Researchers also will determine how to regulate the number of stem cells produced in culture to maximize the reaction. Stem cell therapy holds great promise for genetic disorders such as OI, says Tulane Center for Gene Therapy. However, questions remain about generating new cells with normal structure and function, as well as regulating cell replication.