Extract
In 1965, Marshall R. Urist discovered that the intramuscular implantation of demineralized bone matrix elicits new bone formation. This discovery, made in the Bone Research Laboratory of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), marked the beginning of the development of knowledge concerning bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). Stimulated by Urist's observations, research on BMPs was undertaken in laboratories throughout the world, and, in the last decade, the advance of knowledge pertaining to the capacity of BMPs to induce the healing of segmental bone defects has been phenomenal. This article briefly describes Marshall Urist's career as a scientist and orthopaedic surgeon, his life, his family, and his friends.