Tissue engineering: from dream to reality

The tissue engineering revolution is coming to the XXIst century and thus opening a new chapter in the biomedical therapies to human suffering. If the 1990's were the decade of brain research; the next one could easily be the tissue engineering one. The tissue engineering approach not only has shown a technological "push" because of the prowess in re-creating organs in the laboratory, but also there is an incredible "pull" because of the limitations of classical organ transplantation. There are three approaches to tissue regeneration: (1) cellular therapy, (2) tissue engineering, (3) tissue templates (biomaterials). They encompass a full spectrum of therapeutic solution to tissue regeneration. Furthermore, tissue engineering can dovetail with other important therapeutic tools such as gene therapy and drug delivery. Tissue engineering has already brought a new era In transplantation. The use of adult cells or adult stem cells also may keep this field away from the complex ethical issues involved in embryonic stem cells.