Narine Sarvazyan - Tissue Engineering: Principles, Protocols, and Practical Exercises

Tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) is a newly emerged interdisciplinary branch of science with high clinical relevance. Here, we attempted to overview the main TERM principles followed by simple demos and student exercises all done using minimal specialized equipment and supplies. As such, this book can serve as a suitable educational material for anyone who wants to conduct a practical course introducing students to this complex and rapidly advancing field of science. We intentionally avoided exercises that rely on specialized equipment such as electrospinning, magnetic bead sorter, microfluidic chamber, or 3D printer. In contrast, described protocols can be conducted using common lab equipment, and the didactic part of the book can be easily read by students from all backgrounds including high school or non-biology major students. Moreover, since not all educational institutions might have a functional vivarium, we also included suggestions for alternative experiments that do not require certified animal facilities and approved animal protocols. Instead, instructors and students can rely on tissue sources from a local abattoir, farmers market, or using commercial cell lines. By completing exercises described in this book, students will become familiar with (i) the basic principles of disassembling and reassembling tissues, (ii) key TERM terminologies, and (iii) methods of analyzing engineered tissues. Students will also gain practical experience in using online resources and literature searches to extract relevant TERM protocols and to perform the key steps of the procedures.

It is important to emphasize that by no means this book attempts to cover the advances and complexities of the TERM field. For this, interested readers are referred to many excellent comprehensive books or reviews that encompass different aspects of tissue engineering.