Tissue engineering Regular QUESTIONS and CORRECT Answers

Define Tissue Engineering "is an interdisciplinary field that applies the principles of engineering and the life sciences toward the development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function" (Langer, Vacanti, Science, 1993). How does NIH define tissue engineering? Tissue engineering evolved from the field of biomaterials development and refers to the practice of combining scaffolds, cells, and biologically active molecules into functional tissues. The goal of tissue engineering is to assemble functional constructs that restore, maintain, or improve damaged tissues or whole organs. Artificial skin and cartilage are examples of engineered tissues that have been approved by the FDA; however, currently they have limited use in human patients. How does NIH define regenerative medicine? Regenerative medicine is a broad field that includes tissue engineering but also incorporates research on self-healing - where the body uses its own systems, sometimes with help foreign biological material to recreate cells and rebuild tissues and organs. The terms "tissue engineering" and "regenerative medicine" have become largely interchangeable, as the field hopes to focus on cures instead of treatments for complex, often chronic, diseases