Tissue engineering.
The loss or failure of an organ or tissue is one of the most frequent, devastating, and costly problems in human health care. A new field, tissue engineering, applies the principles of biology and engineering to the development of functional substitutes for damaged tissue. This article discusses the foundations and challenges of this interdisciplinary field and its attempts to provide solutions to tissue creation and repair.
Langer
R
R
Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02319.
Vacanti
J P
JP
D000818:Animals; D001698:Biomedical Engineering; D001705:Bioprosthesis; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D046508:Culture Techniques; D004475:Ectoderm; D004707:Endoderm; D006801:Humans; D008648:Mesoderm; D016378:Tissue Transplantation