Challenges in tissue engineering

Almost 30 years have passed since a term 'tissue engineering' was created to represent a new concept that focuses on regeneration of neotissues from cells with the support of biomaterials and growth factors. This interdisciplinary engineering has attracted much attention as a new therapeutic means that may overcome the drawbacks involved in the current artificial organs and organ transplantation that have been also aiming at replacing lost or severely damaged tissues or organs. However, the tissues regenerated by this tissue engineering and widely applied to patients are still very limited, including skin, bone, cartilage, capillary and periodontal tissues. What are the reasons for such slow advances in…