Tissue engineering is about using aspects of cell biology and transplantation of cells, along with materials science and biomedical engineering, to develop biological substitutes for tissues and organs. These substitutes can restore and maintain the normal function of damaged tissues and organs. Tisue engineering methods include the injection of functional cells into a non-functional site to stimulate regeneration in that area and the use of biocompatible materials to create new tissues and organs. These biomaterials can be natural or synthetic matrices, often termed scaffolds, which encourage the body’s natural ability to repair itself and assist in determining the orientation and direction of new tissue growth.

To say it simply, tissue engineering is about using the individual’s cells to “engineer” or create tissue that is used to enforce or reinforce affected sites and assist in repair and regeneration of the site.

We have focused on human cell-based therapy but it is worth further emphasizing the important and growing linkage between gene therapy and regenerative medicine. Cell therapy represents a way of placing genes in cells, checking the outcome is safe and then implanting the cells into patients.