Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 20
Tissue Engineering Breakthroughs
Stem cell research can revolutionize medicine, more than
anything since antibiotics.
Ron Reagan
(1911-2004)
Tissue engineering (TE) is an emerging multidisciplinary fi eld involving biology,
medicine, and engineering that is likely to revolutionize the ways we improve the
health and quality of life for millions of people worldwide by restoring, maintaining,
or enhancing tissue and organ function. Three essentials components of TE are: cells,
scaffolds and molecules of extracellular matrix, designed to repair tissue defect.
In addition to having a therapeutic application, where the tissue is either grown in a
patient or outside the patient and transplanted, tissue engineering can have diagnos-
tic applications where the tissue is made in vitro and used for testing drug metabolism
and uptake, toxicity, and pathogenicity. The foundation of tissue engineering for either
therapeutic or diagnostic applications is the ability to exploit living cells in a variety
of ways. Tissue engineering research includes: biomaterials, cells, biomolecules,
engineering design aspects, biomechanics, bio-informatics in order to help interven-
tions not only at organ but also at cellular and molecular level. Therefore, gene
therapy, manipulations with abzymes and rational vaccine design are also parts of TE.
This Chapter will present the crucial breakthroughs in this fi eld.
