regenerative medicine

noun

: a branch of medicine concerned with developing therapies that regenerate or replace injured, diseased, or defective cells, tissues, or organs to restore or establish function and structure

Note: Regenerative medicine treatments include stem cell therapy to stimulate tissue repair and regeneration at the site of damage or the transplantation of tissues or organs made or grown outside the body.

Companies are trying to harness the [stem] cells to rebuild hearts, bone, blood and other tissues, part of a field coming to be called regenerative medicine.

—Andrew Pollack

Regenerative medicine holds promise for the treatment of degenerative and genetic diseases. One goal is to rejuvenate damaged tissue by establishing processes for the transplantation of pluripotent or multipotent stem cells, which are able to differentiate into a wide range of cell types.

—Joan C. Marini et al.

They were hailed as pioneers leading the world toward an amazing future of regenerative medicine in which doctors will make replacement parts to order. Since then, 14 other patients have received bioengineered tracheas.

—Gretchen Vogel

In an initiative to speed treatments for wounded soldiers, the U.S. Department of Defense … is entering the fast-growing field of regenerative medicine.

—Constance Holden

Examples of regenerative medicine in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

The success of this first transplant also suggests a future where regenerative medicine supports many types of tissue repair. —Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 10 Dec. 2025

The findings not only alter the basic mechanics of hair development but may open up new strategies in regenerative medicine and treatments for hair loss. —Melissa Fleur Afshar, MSNBC Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2025

Growing such cells on Earth is not as efficient on the ground, but doing so in space helps scientists learn more about how to produce them for regenerative medicine both on Earth and for future spaceflights. —Robert Z. Pearlman, Space.com, 21 Nov. 2025

Important innovations will include everything from regenerative medicine’s ongoing discoveries in tissue engineering for organ repair and grafts to peptide and growth factor technologies. —Jenny B. Fine, Footwear News, 18 Nov. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1983, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for regenerative medicine

• biomedicine
• telemedicine

Medical Definition

regenerative medicine

noun

: a branch of medicine concerned with developing therapies that regenerate or replace injured, diseased, or defective cells, tissues, or organs to restore or establish function and structure

Note: Regenerative medicine treatments include stem cell therapy to stimulate tissue repair and regeneration at the site of damage or the transplantation of tissues or organs made or grown outside the body.

Regenerative medicine holds promise for the treatment of degenerative and genetic diseases. One goal is to rejuvenate damaged tissue by establishing processes for the transplantation of pluripotent or multipotent stem cells, which are able to differentiate into a wide range of cell types.

—Joan C. Marini et al.

They were hailed as pioneers leading the world toward an amazing future of regenerative medicine in which doctors will make replacement parts to order. Since then, 14 other patients have received bioengineered tracheas.

—Gretchen Vogel