Of Goats, Noses and Knees

Here’s a novel location to pinch a little cartilage for rejuvenating a worn-out knee joint:

Your nose.

Apparently a study on goats (I know, from weird to weirder) showed that the cells in their noses that make cartilage could perform the same function in their knees.

So now researchers are seeing if they can replicate the results in a human trial. Full results weren’t available when the summary linked above was written, though we were told the patients were doing “extremely well.”

This story somewhat surprised me. I would have guessed that knee and nose cartilage are from two different families, so to speak, and one wouldn’t be able to properly substitute for the other. But looks like I would be wrong. :) In any event, if you have bad (or no) cartilage in your knees, in another 10 or 20 years, doctors may be assessing your schnoz as a potential donor site.