(249a) Chemical Engineers and Tissue Engineering

Tissue engineering is a new field of inquiry, defined about 25 years ago, but it is already impacting medical care. Chemical engineers have been central contributors in this effort. Tissue engineering takes methods and materials from chemical engineering and deploys them for new purposes: bioreactors are used for tissue assembly, polymer materials provide scaffolds for tissue growth, and molecular delivery systems control the release of factors essential for cell survival and differentiation. Accordingly, the basic principles for tissue engineering align closely with chemical engineering science. Here, those basic principles are illustrated in examples of tissue engineering in the skin, the cardiovascular system, and the nervous system. These examples will be used to highlight the role of chemical engineers in the design of novel biomaterials, the delivery of agents that control cell function, and the optimization of vascular self-assembly.