A revolutionary breakthrough of bionanomaterials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

In the past two decades, use of the nanotechnology for human health has gained scientific and industrial interest globally. The recent advances in nanomaterials production using polymer chemistry, materials science, biomedical science, and biomedical engineering have provided a significant boost in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM). Various properties of the nanomaterials, such as small size (ranging from 0.1 to 300nm), low toxicity, targeted delivery potential, and tailorable characteristics, provide a new outlook for tissue engineering. Tissue or organ engineering requires a functional scaffold or platform with a high degree of control over biochemical events and real-time monitoring of engineered tissues. The targeted delivery of bioactive agents such as growth factors, chemokines, cytokines, and inhibitors can be achieved by application of tissue engineering. Recently, several approaches using bionanomaterials that play a central role in tissue engineering have been recognized, and scaffolds are now being developed with functional properties that mimic the extracellular matrix for tissue development. This chapter focuses on the brief introduction of bionanomaterials, translational applications, challenges, and prospects in TERM.