Organ regeneration, once unknown in adult mammals, is at the threshold of maturity as a clinical method for restoration of organ function in humans. Several laboratories around the world are engaged in the development of new tools such as stem cells and biologically active scaffolds. Others are taking fresh looks at well-known clinical problems of replacement of a large variety of organs: Bone, skin, the spinal cord, peripheral nerves, articular cartilage, the conjunctiva, heart valves and urologic organs. Still other investigators are working out the mechanistic pathways of regeneration...

This textbook describes the basic principles of induced organ regeneration in skin and peripheral nerves and extends the original successful paradigm to other organs. A set of trans-organ rules is established and its use in regeneration of several organs is illustrated from the works of several independent investigators who worked with a variety of organs, such as the lung, the bladder, and the Achilles tendon, using collagen-based scaffolds somewhat similar to the original one. These critical medical treatments fill the clinical need that is not met by organ transplantation.

New to...