Tissue-engineered skin: bottleneck or breakthrough

During the past few years, tissue-engineered skin constructs has offered great promise in the treatment of deep burns and various skin-related disorders. The overall impact of bioengineered skin research, as a multidisciplinary field, has also enhanced our understanding of the structure-function relations and the physiological processes of tissue regeneration within these constructed three-dimensional skin models. Despite of the fact that currently available bioengineered skin products have a range of problems such as patient safety, clinical efficacy and convenience of use, they are still one of the most advanced strategies because of their wide use and potential development in the biomedical field. Here, the challenges and developments in tissue-engineered skin research are discussed. Central to the discussion is the extensive application and future prospects of these bioengineered skin constructs.