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Stem cells, the cure for hobbled horses?
Nostrils flaring, ears pricked, Solid Gold shifted nervously as the vet stroked his injured foreleg. The three-year-old racehorse had no way of knowing this injection would save his career, not end it.
Nostrils flaring, ears pricked, Solid Gold shifted nervously as the vet stroked his injured foreleg. The three-year-old racehorse had no way of knowing this injection would save his career, not end it.
While debate rages over the ethics of stem cell research for humans, a Singaporean firm has given racehorse owners a new weapon against career-threatening tendon and ligament injuries.
After harvesting bone marrow from the horse's sternum, EZ Stemcell separates multi-potential stem cells, which are then injected directly into the injured tendon.
This cutting-edge technology will not only revolutionise the way injured horses are treated, says Dr Omie Rangabashyam, but two-legged patients could one day be treated in a similar fashion.
“Without stem cell therapy, the horse would have rested for a year, raced again and the tendon would have probably tore again,” said Rangabashyam.
