Scientists from Duke University Medical Center in North Carolina, have revealed that cells that normally turn into fat cells can be turned into cartilage by feeding them growth factors and providing them with a gel matrix to grow in. The discovery means that doctors will have a virtually inexhaustible supply of cells from which to grow cartilage to repair damaged joints. One of the major advantages of the treatment is that the cartilage is grown from the patients own cells, thus there are no problems with graft-host disease. The cells used in the experiments were obtained from cosmetic liposuction procedures.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by www.reutershealth.com on the 27th February 2001
