New cartilage in vivo

This from a Science Daily article:

ScienceDaily (2010-02-08) -- Researchers have designed a bioactive nanomaterial that promotes the growth of new cartilage in vivo and without the use of expensive growth factors. The therapy is minimally invasive, utilizes bone marrow stem cells and produces natural cartilage. Unlike bone, cartilage does not grow back, and it cannot effectively be replaced. Countless people learn this all too well when they bring their bad knees, shoulders and elbows to an orthopedic surgeon.

The related scientific paper was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). This could be great news for some who suffer from joint pain attributable to the loss of cartilage. As the article states, adults do not regenerate cartilage so once the loss of it goes beyond a certain threshold pain can set in.