Regenerative medicine

Regenerative medicine deals with the "process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function".^[1] This field holds the promise of engineering damaged tissues and organs by stimulating the body's own repair mechanisms to functionally heal previously irreparable tissues or organs.^[2]

Regenerative medicine also includes the possibility of growing tissues and organs in the laboratory and implanting them when the body cannot heal itself. When the cell source for a regenerated organ is derived from the patient's own tissue or cells,^[3] the challenge of organ transplant rejection via immunological mismatch is circumvented.^[4][5][6] This approach could alleviate the problem of the shortage of organs available for donation.

Some of the biomedical approaches within the field of regenerative medicine may involve the use of stem cells.^[7] Examples include the injection of stem cells or progenitor cells obtained through directed differentiation (cell therapies); the induction of regeneration by biologically active molecules administered alone or as a secretion by infused cells (immunomodulation therapy); and transplantation of in vitro grown organs and tissues (tissue engineering).^[8][9]