The History of Tissue Engineering Using Synthetic Biodegradable Polymer Scaffolds and Cells

Abstract

In the not too distant past, organ transplantation was considered a futuristic concept. However, things considered miraculous in one era may be merely remarkable in another (Langer and Vacanti, 1995). Over the last half of this century, development of techniques for tissue and organ transplantation have been revolutionary. Along with the tremendous advances in the field of transplantation, new problems have emerged needing solutions. It is in this context that the field of tissue engineering has emerged over the last decade (Vacanti and Vacanti, 1996).