Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Regenerative medicine is evolving toward a powerful new paradigm of functional restoration. With the ethical use of gene therapy or through the manipulation of autologous tissues, improved tissue replacements may soon be available. The promise of engineered whole organs, although fraught with technical hurdles, remains on the horizon. As these advances occur, physicians and surgeons of the twenty-first century will possess ever more powerful tools to restore form and function.