Surgeons at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary in Scotland will learn a technique pioneered in Siberia, called the Ilizarov method, that can grow back broken fingers of perhaps other bones. Although joints won't come back, many types of bone breaks can be healed and made to look more natural than prosthesis!

Miki Davies, a consultant plastic surgeon, will be one of the trainees.She said : "It is fairly easy to survive without one finger but if you have lost a few then life becomes more difficult. We specialise in hand trauma and many of our patients are farmers, fishermen or oil workers who have been involved in crushing accidents and find it hard to continue working."