Edited by: Prof. Xiao-Bing Fu and Prof Xiao-Song Gu
Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine are rapidly rising multidisciplinary fields that aim to restore, maintain, or enhance the functions of damaged tissues and organs. With the change of lifestyle and aggravating trend of aging population, the healthcare burden of degenerative diseases, tumors, tissue and organ defects, and other age-related diseases have been increasing. However, current therapeutic strategies either are limited by donor availability and immunological barriers or pertain to only a narrow range of conditions. Moreover, such conditions are unlikely to be completely cured by current standard treatments, and need novel therapeutic approaches. The research in this area is further boosted by rapid development of new medical technologies and the continuing expansion of medical research areas.
A mature therapeutic approach requires decades of research and practice, and tissue engineering/regenerative medicine are no exception. The major problem hindering the development of new therapeutics is insufficient translation of basic research findings to clinical practice. Basic and clinical scientists, as well as scientists working in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, need to reach consensus before applying novel therapy clinically.
In this thematic series, we would like to better understand the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine.
This series was published in Military Medical Research.