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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Crossing frontiers in biomaterials and regenerative medicine

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From 28 May–1 June 2008, the 8th World Biomaterials Congress (WBC) was held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The meeting attracted 3052 participants from 82 countries, which has made this congress the largest meeting ever held in the field of biomaterials and regenerative medicine. More than 650 oral and 1500 poster contributions [1] were presented in 108 scientific sessions, divided into nine parallel sessions, including 48 dedicated symposia that had been proposed by international leaders in the field. The symposia each contained an invited keynote, providing expert opinions on current developments in biomaterials research. Historically, research in the field of biomaterials has focused on the optimization of materials by increasing their compatibility with living tissue. In the last two decades, however, this focus has gradually shifted from conventional materials science and engineering towards an integrated approach involving material scientists as well as biologists and clinicians of various disciplines. Clearly, a major paradigm shift occurred around the early 1990s. At that time, research efforts were increasingly aimed at improving and replacing biological functions, including the concept of tissue engineering, by combining the three key elements of tissue engineering: cells, biologically active molecules and carrier materials called scaffolds or matrices. By the subsequent convergence of stem cell research with tissue engineering during the early 2000s, the even broader field of regenerative medicine emerged, which focuses in general on the replacement or regeneration of human cells, tissue or organs in order to restore or establish normal function. The papers that were presented at the WBC clearly illustrated the current trend in biomaterials research that focuses on regenerative approaches through careful design of functional materials. The five plenary lecturers provided the attendees of the WBC meeting with a clear and inspiring update of the latest developments in regenerative medicine. It is highly significant that although the five plenary speakers represent the combined fields of materials science, chemical engineering and polymer chemistry, all based their presentations on the translational aspects from ‘bench to bedside’. This awareness of patient needs and the requirement to build multidisciplinary research consortia represents a major focus of this field, and is in marked contrast to the biomaterial science of the past decades, when material and life scientists tended to be preoccupied with the exciting developments within their own disciplines. This multiand interdisciplinary approach as a scientific philosophy as well as the progress which it is expected to bring lay behind the theme chosen for the WBC, namely ‘Crossing Frontiers in Biomaterials and Regenerative Medicine’, and was exemplified by the research activity of the plenary speakers.