Tissue engineering: a historical review as seen through the US Patent Office

Abstract

Issued US patents are utilised to describe the history of tissue engineering by implantation of dissociated cells in polymeric matrices. The history begins with patents issuing on applications filed in the late 1970s by Drs Yannas and Bell, who later founded Organogenesis. Next, the pivotal role of the technology developed by Drs Joseph Vacanti and Robert Langer is discussed, then the stromal cell matrices of Dr Gail Naughton, who founded Advance Tissue Sciences. The formation of businesses and product development is briefly correlated with the patents. Additional developments as described in the patents relate to methods for making polymeric matrices, methods for modifying polymers to interact with and modify the cellular interactions with the matrices, including cell attachment, differentiation and proliferation, and more recent advances specific to developments with stem cells and genetically engineered cells.

• matrices
• patents
• polymer
• tissue engineering