Tissue engineering, applying the theories of cell biology and engineering, is a new scientific field to study and develop biologic substitutes for repairing tissue defects and restoring organ function. Succeeding cytobiology and molecular biology, it is a new mile stone in life science, marking that in medical science we will step into a new era-fabricating tissues and organs for transplantation .

This paper discusses briefly the historical development of tissue engineering, the status of researches in different kinds of tissue and organ, and present development and acheivements in tissue engineering in China.

Due to its great scientific value and wide applying prospect, tissue engineering is becoming the central point in life science research in the 21 st century. Accordingly, establishing and developing tissue engineering enterprise as soon as possible is of great significance in accelerating medical science and national economy development.