OUTLOOK

REGENERATIVE MEDICINE
8 December 2016 / Vol 540 / Issue No 7632

B
OUTLOOK 8 December 2016
Supplement to Nature
Research journals
odies wear out. Tissue thins and tears. Organs stop
REGENERATIVE
functioning. Cells lose their biological way. Trauma CONTENTS
breaks things. And as a result, we become ill or disabled.
MEDICINE

This has always been our fate.

S50 TIMELINE
Regenerative medicine is the bold collection of techniques Regrowing the body
and technologies that aim to restore our physiology to The big breakthroughs in our
something that resembles its original condition. Its roots trace understanding of regeneration
back to antiquity (see page S50) but it has, in recent years,
Produced with support from:
Rebuilding
the body

S52 NEUROSCIENCE
Cover art: Sam Falconer become much more effective. For example, 3D printers can New nerves for old
construct tissue and organs that in some cases can function Stem-cell treatments have resulted
Editorial as well as the originals (S56). The central nervous system, in some surprising recoveries, but
Herb Brody, Michelle however, has proved stubbornly difficult to repair. Scientists neurologists are cautious
Grayson, Richard hope that stem-cell advances might finally restore mobility to
Hodson, Jenny Rooke S55 PERSPECTIVE
those with spinal-cord injuries (S52). Excitement is already Work with, not against, biology
Art & Design
Mohamed Ashour, building over the potential of these intriguing cells to create Tissue engineers need to rethink their
Kate Duncan, Wesley drug-free treatments for chronic diseases such as type 1 approach, says Stephen Badylak
Fernandes, Wojtek diabetes (S60). Regeneration researchers are also taking S56 TECHNOLOGY
Urbanek
cues from the animal world: species such as salamanders The promise of printing
Production Perfecting the techniques that could
Matthew Carey, Ian
have the power to regrow limbs. Understanding the cellular
mechanisms behind this ability might lead to techniques that bring printed organs to the clinic
Pope, Karl Smart
Sponsorship can work in humans (S58). Indeed, one scientist argues that for S58 ANIMAL MODELS
Yuki Fujiwara, progress to continue, researchers will need to do a better job of Unlock your inner salamander
Yvette Smith emulating and working alongside natural systems (S55). Learning from nature’s regenerators
Marketing S60 DIABETES
The creation of these therapies brings with it questions of how
Nicole Jackson
to regulate them. Clinics are sprouting up to offer dubious stem- Encapsulating the problem
Project Manager Developing devices to shield implanted
Anastasia Panoutsou cell-based treatments for dire conditions, and policymakers are
cells from the immune system
Art Director crafting rules to accelerate the availability of effective treatments
Kelly Buckheit Krause without endangering desperate patients (S64). S64 REGULATION
Publisher We are pleased to acknowledge financial support for Rewriting the regenerative rulebook
Richard Hughes The controversy surrounding regulation
this Outlook from Translational Research Informatics
Editorial Director, of stem-cell therapy
Center (TRI), Clio, Inc., Sapporo Medical University
Partnership Media
Stephen Pincock and CYBERDYNE, INC. As always, Nature retains sole
Chief Magazine Editor responsibility for all editorial content. RELATED ARTICLES
Helen Pearson S68 An FDA perspective on preclinical
Editor-in-Chief Herb Brody development of cell-based
Philip Campbell Chief supplements editor regenerative medicine
Alexander M. Bailey, Michael Mendicino
& Patrick Au
Nature Outlooks are sponsored supplements that aim to stimulate All featured articles will be freely available for 6 months.
interest and debate around a subject of interest to the sponsor, SUBSCRIPTIONS AND CUSTOMER SERVICES
S71 Autophagy maintains stemness by
while satisfying the editorial values of Nature and our readers’ Site licences (www.nature.com/libraries/site_licences): Americas, preventing senescence
expectations. The boundaries of sponsor involvement are clearly
delineated in the Nature Outlook Editorial guidelines available at
institutions@natureny.com; Asia-Pacific, http://nature.asia/ Laura García-Prat et al.
jp-contact; Australia/New Zealand, nature@macmillan.com.au;
go.nature.com/e4dwzw Europe/ROW, institutions@nature.com; India, npgindia@nature. S77 Modulation of tissue repair by
CITING THE OUTLOOK com. Personal subscriptions: UK/Europe/ROW, subscriptions@
Cite as a supplement to Nature, for example, Nature Vol. XXX, nature.com; USA/Canada/Latin America, subscriptions@ regeneration enhancer elements
No. XXXX Suppl., Sxx–Sxx (2016). us.nature.com; Japan, http://nature.asia/jp-contact; China, http:// Junsu Kang et al.
VISIT THE OUTLOOK ONLINE nature.asia/china-subscribe; Korea, www.natureasia.com/ko-kr/
The Nature Outlook Regenerative Medicine supplement can be found subscribe. S83 Spinal cord reconstitution with
at http://www.nature.com/nature/outlook/regenerative-medicine CUSTOMER SERVICES homologous neural grafts enables
It features all newly commissioned content as well as a selection of Feedback@nature.com
relevant previously published material. Copyright © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. robust corticospinal regeneration
Ken Kadoya et al.

8 D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 6 | VO L 5 4 0 | NAT U R E | S 4 9
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