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Todays research, Tomorrows cure. Tissue engineering is emerging as a significant potential alternative or complementary solution, whereby tissue and organ failure is addressed by implanting natural, synthetic, or semisynthetic tissue and organ mimics that are fully functional from the start, or that grow into the required functionality. Initial efforts have focused on skin equivalents for treating burns, but an increasing number of tissue types are now being engineered, as well as biomaterials and scaffolds used as delivery systems. A variety of approaches are used to coax differentiated or undifferentiated cells, such as stem cells, into the desired cell type. Notable results include tissue-engineered bone, blood vessels, liver, muscle, and even nerve conduits. As a result of the medical and market potential, there is significant academic and corporate interest in this technology.

Part of the interest and support for tissue engineering comes from the armed forces, in that numerous battlefield-related medical applications exist for tissue-engineered products and biomaterials. For example, Advanced Tissue Sciences had part of its clinical trial for Dermagraft-TC in the treatment of chemical burns funded by the US Army Institute of Chemical Defense. Dermagraft-TC is an engineered human dermal tissue combined with a synthetic epidermal layer. It covers and protects burns, helping to minimize infections and retain fluids until a sufficient amount of the patient's own skin is available for autologous grafting. The principal alternative is cadaver skin, but the problems here include a limited supply, acute immunological rejection, and potential pathogen transmission.

The use of progenitor-type cells as the starting point for developing differentiated tissue material is the focus of considerable research. For example, it is possible to take mesenchymal stem cells that reside in the adult bone marrow and induce them to differentiate into chondrocytes by using specific tissue culture media that include transforming growth factor 9. Chondrocytes are constituents of cartilagenous tissue, and the possibility of generating them in a controlled fashion creates possibilities for the development of appropriate cartilage tissue for surgical procedures. Stem cells are also used as a starting point for a multitude of other cell types used in tissue engineering.