What is the first major step involved in tissue engineering?

The first major step involved in tissue engineering is the extraction of living cells. This process is essential because the cells serve as the foundational building blocks for creating engineered tissues. The extraction typically involves sourcing cells from a donor (which could be a patient or stem cell lines), and this step is critical since the type and quality of cells greatly influence the success of the subsequent stages in tissue engineering, such as cell culturing and the creation of scaffolds.

Cell culturing, while important, follows the extraction of living cells and involves growing the harvested cells under controlled conditions to increase their numbers and prepare them for tissue formation. Degradation refers to the breakdown of materials and is relevant to scaffolding and implantation phases, which come later in the process. Understanding that the extraction of living cells lays the groundwork for tissue engineering helps clarify its primary role in developing functional tissues.