The regenerative medicine field has progressed faster than Secretariat's 1973 Belmont stakes win. And a Cornell University research team that uses horses' own bone marrow to successfully treat joint injuries is helping take stem cell therapy to the next level.

"Joint injuries such as chip fractures or osteochondral defects like osteochondrosis dissecans (OCD) are extremely common in horses. Many different surgical treatment modalities are available, yet none has proven to be a superior choice," explained research team leader Lisa A. Fortier, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVS, associate professor of surgery at Cornell University and president of the International Cartilage Repair Society.

The goal of any joint therapy is to enhance cartilage repair to diminish knee pain, restore joint function, and delay the development of osteoarthritis. As clear-cut and well-defined as it sounds, achieving this goal is proving to be more elusive than the Triple Crown.

"All of the currently available treatment choices appear equally effective; however, a simpler, completely arthroscopic, single-step, cost-effective cartilage repair procedure that uses a horse's own body to optimally heal cartilage defects is desirable," said Fortier