Larry Hench has been at the forefront of the revolution that has occurred in the past four decades in the field of bioactive glass. First discovered in 1969, these materials provided the first alternative to bioinert materials. In their second generation, bioglass has been used in interfacial bonding of an implant with host tissues. Today, according to Hench, we stand on the threshold of a third generation of bioglass materials that will leverage the gene-activating properties of 45S5 Bioglass to turn on a bodys own repair process and trigger real tissue regeneration. This lecture was given at the PACRIM8 meeting of ceramic and glass scientists held in 2009 in Vancouver, British Columbia.
