The emerging field of tissue engineering has great promise for the replacement and
repair of tissues and organs that have been lost or compromised by disease or trauma. In
fact, the first wave of new medical therapies based on the principles and methods of tissue
engineering is currently available. Other tissue engineering therapies are under
active clinical evaluation and still more are energetically under investigation in labs
throughout the world. Far from being a mature and static field, the fundamental methods
of tissue engineering are in an extraordinary creative phase of refinement, improvement,
and innovation. These methods are tackling ever-increasing problems in the
medical application of tissue engineering and will form the underpinnings of future
medical therapies.