In particular, the potential for mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to differentiate into multiple phenotypes - like fat, cartilage and bone - make them ideal building blocks for bone and cartilage tissue engineering in orthopaedics and rheumatology.

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Dr Paul Watkins, honorary secretary of the British Orthopaedic Research Society, said scientists were working on other tissue engineering techniques to replace damaged cartilage tissue.

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