In clinical surgery, the biomedical burden of treating diseased or injured organs is great. As populations grow and expand, the need for replacement tissues and organs is constantly increasing and requires novel tissue- and organ-engineering strategies. Collective progress in the development of innovative materials and scaffolds which are capable of modulating the cellular responses required for tissue repair can only be achieved via multidisci-plinary collaborative interactions between investigators in the diverse disciplines of the Life Sciences. 'Reparative' surgery includes cell-based therapies, artificial organs and engineered living tissues. The suitability and versatility of scientific and technological approaches are highly dependent on the ability to (1) synthesize novel materials, (2) assemble materials into adequate 2- and 3-dimension-al forms, and (3) precisely tailor material-related physical and biological properties with the hope of not only replacing tissues and organs but also utilizing the body's innate capacity for regeneration.
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