Yes, you can stream Netflix—and your body can stream stem cells. In fact, this is the up-to-the-minute thinking about how stem cells work. Here is the latest from the recent International Cartilage Repair Society meeting on stem cells, growth factors, bone marrow, fat, and PRP.

The ruptured Achilles tendon heals beautifully when repaired. It just doesn’t need open surgery to repair it. Here is why.

Birth tissues products such as membranes, cells, and fluids donated by the mothers when they give birth are the new fountain of youth used in many fields of medicine. Here is a brief, biased guide to what you may hear at your next orthopedic (and almost every other medical) office visit.

Stem cells are both in and out. It was once thought that if these cells were injected into joints, they would turn into cartilage. Two problems arose. First, patients (unless they are infants) have very few stem cells left. Second, the injected cells died after releasing their instructional growth factors, never turning into cartilage. But what we have learned is that an increasing number of concentrated growth factors, immune stimulants, and even some drugs can induce the migration of the body’s own progenitor cells—some of them stem cells—cells that direct healing—to the injured area. These cells then optimize the environment around the injury to effect healing.

The science of cartilage repair for joints is in full swing. There is a frenzy of activity around stem cells, growth factors, exosomes (small packets of growth factors), and all forms of stimulation therapies. And the matrices or patches that those factors are placed on vary widely. The bottom line is that no one factor does it all. Here is the latest update on what needs to go into the chicken soup of tissue repair to make you well.

The PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) can be ruptured in car accidents when the knee hits the dashboard and in ski accidents when knees get impacted in wild falls. If left alone, the injured knee degrades over time. Understanding the injury and novel ways to treat it has changed its natural history.

The stem cell tsunami overwhelming all of medicine is evolving. Where once it was thought that these cells could morph into anything and cure everything, our new understanding of their behavior will change how they are used. Here is where we are on the learning curve: