The emerging field of cell and tissue engineering

Abstract

New scientific technologies and concepts have led to the revolution of the field of regenerative medicine, as highlighted in our review of articles published in the journal Cell Transplantation - The Regenerative Medicine Journal over the last two years. From 2006 to 2007, 373 articles were published; a remarkable increase over the last two time periods (2004-2005 and 2005-2006), partly due to inclusion of American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR) meeting abstracts in the current analysis. The neuroscience section has increased immensely in the number of articles and percentage of all manuscripts. The tissue engineering and bioartificial organs section is now equally important with the islets and other endocrines section. There is a considerable increase in the proportion of manuscripts related to transplants with stem cells, progenitors, and bone marrow and nontransplants. Stem cell transplants can be ranked in the following descending order of preference; bone marrow-derived cells, neural stem cells, human umbilical cord blood cells, embryonic stem cells, and myoblasts. Bone marrow derived cells and human umbilical cord blood cell have been used for various disease fields. The non-stem cell transplantation group is made up primarily of islet cells, followed by biomaterials, and other cells or tissues from a variety of sources. The field of regenerative medicine as represented by the journal Cell Transplantation is not restricted solely to transplantation. The majority of the non-transplantation-based articles relate to methods other than transplant for treatment, e.g. dietary supplementation, preparation for transplantation (isolation, differentiation and growth of cells or tissues), and pathology (e.g. neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease). © Med Sci Monit, 2008.