Abstract

Tissue Engineering Beyond Regenerative Medicine: Biofabricating Leather

Gabor Forgacs, Professor, University of Missouri-Columbia; Founder, Modern Meadow

Most tissue engineering efforts are focused on applications in regenerative medicine to improve the quality of life of patients. Despite spectacular progress in the last 20 years the expected breakthrough to replace dysfunctional tissues in the organism or mitigate the chronic shortage of donor organs has not yet been achieved. This is not surprising given the enormous challenge facing the biofabrication of complex living structures in vitro and the associated astronomical expenditures. Here we propose a more modest, but more realistic utilization of the knowledge accumulated in tissue engineering and associated biofabrication technologies over the years. As an example we detail specific efforts to engineer a particular compartment of a complex tissue, the skin that gives rise to a commercially useful leather-like material. We compare our process with that followed by the leather industry to point out the advantages and disadvantages of both. We conclude by speculating more broadly on the significant potential social benefits of our approach.