Stem cells for therapeutic use in tissue engineering: a promising tool or an approachable reality?

The limited potential of the human body to regenerate itself has led scientists to seek new strategies aimed at improving or substituting the physiological mechanisms of homeostasis. Stem cell technology appears to be the most promising way to reach the goal of tissue engineering, i.e., to rebuild injured or damaged human tissues. Unfortunately, many problems remain to be solved before we can transfer results from experimental in vitro and in vivo models to clinical trials. In this review, the most promising fields of tissue engineering, where clinical trials are ongoing or will soon be initiated, are discussed, with particular emphasis on bone, cardiac muscle and neural regeneration. The goal of this review is to highlight advances in stem cell research, and thereby contribute to the discussion of the use of stem cells in human therapy.