Abstract
New devices are emerging that utilize the convergent technologies of several different fields of science and engineering to create tissue that can mimic the structure and function of the natural world. Examples include the creation of skin grafts, corneas, bone, cartilage, and, in some pilot studies, bladders. Such advances herald a remarkable ability to heal, a long-awaited solution to several intractable problems, and a serious alternative to cadaveric or living-donor whole organ transplants. This chapter poses the questions: What are the ethical challenges to the field of tissue engineering? Does tissue engineering raise new ethical issues, or is it a description of one of the modalities enabled by the convergence of other technologies that have been understood to be individually ethically freighted?
Original language | English (US) |
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Title of host publication | Principles of Tissue Engineering |
Subtitle of host publication | Fourth Edition |
Publisher | Elsevier Inc. |
Pages | 1813-1821 |
Number of pages | 9 |
ISBN (Print) | 9780123983589 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 1 2013 |
Keywords
- Bioethics
- Biotechnology
- Ethical framework
- Ethical issues
- Legal structure
- Medicine
- Philosophy
- Regulatory structure
- Social reaction
- Stem cell research
- Tissue engineering
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all)