ABSTRACT
Treatment of lost tissue oen relies on transplantations, either of donor or of autologous tissue. Both alternatives have limitations; there is for example a limited supply of donor transplants, which also require immunosuppression therapy with possible side eects. Transplanted autologous tissue may lack some of the functions of the original tissue and the procedure may also introduce complications at the donor site. In some cases, articial substitutes manufactured from nonbiological materials can be used, for example, synthetic polymer blood vessels or joint replacement prostheses. However, these replacements have drawbacks such as risk for infections, limited material durability, and lack of mechanisms for repair, growth, and remodeling. For these reasons, development of advanced articial tissue constructs with adaptive capabilities is desirable.
