The NFL Has a Problem with Stem Cell Treatments

December 11, 2014

(MIT Technology Review) – Elite athletes do whatever it takes to win. Lately, that’s meant getting an injection of their own stem cells. The treatments, developed over the last eight years, typically involve extracting a small amount of a player’s fat or bone marrow and then injecting it into an injured joint or a strained tendon to encourage tissue regeneration. Bone marrow contains stem cells capable of generating new blood cells, cartilage, and bone. Although the treatments have become a multimillion-dollar industry, some doctors say there’s only thin medical evidence they actually speed healing.