Preface

Regenerative medicine an umbrella term given to varied approaches of replacing or repairing damaged or diseased organs offers a radical new method for the treatment of injury and disease. Regenerative medicine promises a more permanent solution other than the existing pharmaceutical products, and with the introduction of the first few achievements in the field, it progresses from the realms of science to the surgery. In future, we hope to further extend the scope from skin and bone to liver and heart; damaged organs are being made to regrow, or to be replaced with viable alternatives using stem cells. Although, our understanding of stem cell biology has increased rapidly over the last few years, the apparently tremendous therapeutic potential of stem cells has not yet been realized. To this end, many researchers continue to work in areas such as stem cell niche, reprogramming, nanotechnology, biomimetics and 3D bioprinting. Regenerative medicine is highly cross-disciplinary and serves as a bridge between the basic science to bioengineering and clinical medicine. The objective of this book was to capture and consolidate these research in identifying problems, offering solutions and providing ideas to excite further innovation in the stem cell biology and regenerative medicine field to help scientists, engineers and clinicians to design treatments for traumatic injury or degenerative diseases. This book covers the chapters by leading biologists, engineers and clinicians and therefore, has fundamental information that will be of use to all researchers dealing with the regenerative medicine strategies. In this book, recent advances in the basic knowledge of regenerative medicine involved in tissue damage and regeneration have been discussed with remarkable current progress in stem cell biology such that the vision of clinical tissue repair strategies is shown as a tangible reality. This is a reference book for undergraduate and graduate courses, bioengineers, medical students and clinical laboratories. Finally, the efforts of all the contributors and the publisher are appreciated.