A domestic medical research team has succeeded in using stem cells to cure damaged knee cartilage without surgery.
 
A medical team at Boramae Medical Center in Seoul said the injection of 100-million stem cells increased the amount of cartilage in the upper and lower parts of knees by 14 percent and 22 percent on average in patients with degenerative arthritis. The stem cells were separated from the patients' abdominal fat.
 
The research team said no negative side effects were reported for 12 months following the injection and the amount of regenerated cartilage increases in proportion to a rise in dosages.
 
The feat was published in the online edition of the international academic journal “Stem Cell” in January.