Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine in Iran: Current State of Research and Future Outlook

During two decades ago, Iran has exhibited remarkable increase in scientific publication in different aspects including tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). The field of TERM in Iran dates comes back to the early part of the 1990 and the advent of stem cell researches. Nowadays, Iran is one of the privileged countries in stem cell therapy in the Middle East. The next major milestone in TERM was application and fabrication of scaffolds for tissue engineering in the early 2000s with a focus on engineering bone and cartilage tissue. A good amount of thoughtful works has also yielded prototypes of other tissue substitutes such as nerve conduits, liver, and even heart. However, forward movement to clinical application of these products is still far from offering clinically acceptable solutions. In this study, we have presented a comprehensive review on the efforts of Iranian scientists in different issues of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine field.