Tissue engineering: toward new solutions for transplantation and reconstructive surgery.

Great advances in the field of transplantation have been made in the last half of this century. However, the severe scarcity of donor organs, especially in the pediatric population, has become a major limitation. A new field, tissue engineering, applies the principles of biology and engineering toward the development of biological substitutes that restore, maintain, or improve tissue function. This article discusses the groundwork and challenges of this interdisciplinary field and its attempts to provide solutions to create new tissue for transplantation and other fields of reconstructive surgery.