Tissue engineering: Still facing a long way ahead

ABSTRACT Tissue engineering (TE) has provided promising perspectives to overcome the limited efficiency of the conventional treatment options or organ transplantation. Considerable advances in stem cell therapies and biomaterials science and development of delivery systems capable to mimic the production of growth factors may offer treatment breakthroughs in a variety of diseases. Meanwhile, proper vascularization, creation of the complex tissues, tissue quality, functional integration between the graft and host tissues, and the potential risks of chromosomal instability, mutations, tumorigenesis, or unexpected events have remained challenging. Furthermore, the promising results of the in vitro or in vivo studies may not be applicable to the clinical settings. These issues remind us to avoid the simplistic views or exaggerated optimism regarding the novel technologies including TE. This review highlights the advances in TE including its promising potential for clinical applications and the potential solutions for common pitfalls with a special look at the role of the computational modeling that may facilitate translation of the basic research findings into the clinical applications.