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Manuela E. Gomes. 1 3B's Research Group--Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Guimarães, Portugal. 2 ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães, Portugal.
Márcia T. Rodrigues. 1 3B's Research Group--Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Guimarães, Portugal. 2 ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães, Portugal.
Rui M.A. Domingues. 1 3B's Research Group--Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Guimarães, Portugal. 2 ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães, Portugal.
Rui L. Reis. 1 3B's Research Group--Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Guimarães, Portugal. 2 ICVS/3B's, PT Government Associate Laboratory, Guimarães, Portugal.
Address correspondence to: Manuela E. Gomes, PhD, 3B's Research Group--Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, Department of Polymer Engineering, University of Minho, Headquarters of the European Institute of Excellence on Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, AvePark, Zona Industrial da Gandra, 4805-017 Barco GMR, Guimarães, Portugal, E-mail: [email protected]
The Aim, Scope, and Methods of This Review
Since its origin, tissue engineering (TE) holds the promise of revolutionizing healthcare by providing artificially developed tissues and organs substitutes on demand. More recently, TE has expanded into different biomedical areas to feedback research and clinical needs, widening the range not only of possible successful therapies but also of diagnostic/screening tools. Considering the growing number of publications related with TE and approaching different scientific domains, such as cancer science or pharmaceutics research, the potential complementary role of the field in a multitude of clinical areas and therapies in the years to come is evident.
Our review attempts to cover some of the most exciting research contributing to both regenerative medicine and in vitro research applications of engineered tissues, along with the novel technological approaches that are advancing the field. This is the fifth review of the kind in TE. The previous four articles1-4 helped to establish the methodology adopted for selecting the areas of focus and the contributions to highlight. As in previous years, we started by searching the ISI Web of Knowledge database for...