The haystack

Not the whole bird. A sliver of chicken sternal cartilage.

Researchers found a specific section of the sternum that happens to mirror human joint tissue — not collagen alone. The sliver is a matrix: type II collagen, chondroitin sulfate, keratan sulfate, and hyaluronic acid, locked together the way living cartilage is. Not the whole chicken. Not even the whole breastbone. A needle in a haystack. Then decades to make that whole matrix small enough to absorb.