RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 How to build a lung: latest advances and emerging themes in lung bioengineering JF European Respiratory Journal JO Eur Respir J FD European Respiratory Society SP 1601355 DO 10.1183/13993003.01355-2016 VO 52 IS 1 A1 Martina M. De Santis A1 Deniz A. Bölükbas A1 Sandra Lindstedt A1 Darcy E. Wagner YR 2018 UL http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/52/1/1601355.abstract AB Chronic respiratory diseases remain a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The only option at end-stage disease is lung transplantation, but there are not enough donor lungs to meet clinical demand. Alternative options to increase tissue availability for lung transplantation are urgently required to close the gap on this unmet clinical need. A growing number of tissue engineering approaches are exploring the potential to generate lung tissue ex vivo for transplantation. Both biologically derived and manufactured scaffolds seeded with cells and grown ex vivo have been explored in pre-clinical studies, with the eventual goal of generating functional pulmonary tissue for transplantation. Recently, there have been significant efforts to scale-up cell culture methods to generate adequate cell numbers for human-scale bioengineering approaches. Concomitantly, there have been exciting efforts in designing bioreactors that allow for appropriate cell seeding and development of functional lung tissue over time. This review aims to present the current state-of-the-art progress for each of these areas and to discuss promising new ideas within the field of lung bioengineering.Bioengineering lung tissue shows promise but major challenges must be overcome to advance technologies to the clinic http://ow.ly/T9cU30ko0BS