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Taking tissue engineering to heart

More than a decade after Japanese scientists implanted the first bioengineered blood vessel into a child with a congenital heart defect, the experimental treatment has finally made its way into clinical testing in the US. Elie Dolgin asks what took so long and what lessons have been learned along the way.

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Dolgin, E. Taking tissue engineering to heart. Nat Med 17, 1032–1035 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0911-1032

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