Celebrating 30 Years of Netherlands Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering : Past,Present,and Future

The field of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering is, like many other fields, older than one would initially consider. Research in any field starts long before the field is defined. The same holds for the respective scientific societies that are being established to bring together a community of researchers and other relevant parties within a scientific field.

The current special issue on Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering in the Netherlands is a celebration of 30 years of community building in the Netherlands through the Netherlands Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering (NBTE). ¹ The NBTE was established in 1991 as the Netherlands Society for Biomaterials and renamed in 2003 to meet the progressive field. Since then, the NBTE holds close ties to the European Society for Biomaterials ² and its national affiliates, as well as the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society ³ (TERMIS).

In this special issue, we are delighted to share with the readers a selection of the topics that are core to the research within NBTE. Researchers from similar fields but different universities were invited to join forces and write a comprehensive review that would not only reminisce on the past but also elaborate on new exciting directions in the field. Topics range from nanobiomaterials ⁴ to biointerface engineering, ⁵ supramolecular biomaterials, ⁶ hydrogels as injectables, ⁷ and even extending to computational modeling ⁸ where perhaps in the future all biomaterials-related research could be done in silico.

The use of materials for maintaining or re-establishing organ function is an area that is dear to the Netherlands. Willem Kolff ⁹ is well known to many in the field as one of the founding fathers of artificial organs, far before the field was defined as such. Hence, the approaches from the early days of the field and the technologies available to the current community are uncomparable. Such technologies entail novel hardware-based techniques such as 3D bioprinting and other rapid prototyping and added manufacturing techniques, but also cell-based technologies including organoids that resemble functional organs and are currently entering the clinic and considered key in tissue engineering approaches. ¹⁰

Open discussions and retrospects across generations are valuable in connecting experiences and knowledge from the past to that of the future going beyond the mere use of technologies and ideas. It is about scientific evolution. Although this scientific evolution has made tremendous strides, the road ahead is still long. Pleas from the field still call upon fellow scientists to join forces even further where possible. ¹¹ Let this special issue be an inspiration for cross-disciplinary and cross-border collaborations in the ever-exciting field of Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering.