Tissue engineering and reparative medicine.

Reparative medicine is a critical frontier in biomedical and clinical research. The National Institutes of Health Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) convened a symposium titled "Reparative Medicine: Growing Tissues and Organs," which was held on June 25 and 26, 2001 in Bethesda, Maryland. The relevant realms of cells, molecular signaling, extracellular matrix, engineering design principles, vascular assembly, bioreactors, storage and translation, and host remodeling and the immune response that are essential to tissue engineering were discussed. This overview of the scientific program summarizes the plenary talks, extended poster presentations and breakout session reports with an emphasis on scientific and technical hurdles that must be overcome to achieve the promise of restoring, replacing, or enhancing tissue and organ function that tissue engineering offers.