The research provides hope that replacement cartilage might one day be grown for transplantation for a number of problems, including sports injuries and hip replacement surgery, the researchers said.

Archana Vats, from Imperial College London and first author of the study, said: "With (England's) increasing aging population there will be an inevitable increase in problems created by people living longer.

"Although doctors have been able to carry out joint replacements for a number of years, it has not possible to replace the worn out cartilage," he said. "By replacing the cartilage it may be possible to avoid the need for a joint replacement for some time."

Anne Bishop, one of the authors, added: "These results show it may be as little as five years before this advance can be used to directly benefit patients for a huge variety of illnesses and injuries."

The research is to be published in the journal Tissue Engineering.

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