Lung Tissue Engineering: Toward a More Deliberate Approach

Chronic lung disease remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. Given the dearth of definitive therapeutic options, there is an urgent need to augment the pool of donor organs for transplantation. One strategy entails building a lung ex vivo in the laboratory. The past decade of whole lung tissue engineering has laid a foundation of systems and strategies for this approach. Meanwhile, tremendous progress in lung stem cell biology is elucidating cues contributing to alveolar repair, and speaks to the potential of whole lung regeneration in the future. This perspective discusses the key challenges facing the field and highlights opportunities to combine insights from biology with engineering strategies to adopt a more deliberate, and ultimately successful, approach to lung engineering.