Tissue engineering as a technology and as a therapeutic has captured worldwide attention and commitmentbecause it has such potential in the care of humanity. Because we are not as yet able to craft robust three dimensional vascular and ductal structures to support the development of complex parenchymal organs, the initial focus of the field has been on thin tissues that can be nourished by diffusion alone.The best example of this class is cartilage. Thought by some to be a relatively simple tissue in the early days of tissue engineering, deep study of this tissue has shown it to manifest great complexity.Yearsof experimental and clinical effort have begun to untangle the clues that will allow us to reproducibly characterize, gener ate and clinically apply engineered cartilage with positive effects.World wide researchers and clinicians are intently focused on this goal and it has come time to step back and make a good assessment of our progress.

I: Basics

1 Anatomy and Biochemistry of Articular Cartilage
2 Cartilage Injury and Repair
II: Clinical Results
3 Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation (ACT) - Long-Term Results
4 EURACT Study: A 24-Month Follow-up Multicenter Study of 84 Knees Treated with Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation (ACT)
5 Clinical Results of Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation (ACT) Using a Collagen Membrane
6 Treatment of Chondral Defects by Matrix-Guided Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation (MACI)
7 Transplantation of Osteochondral Autografts
III: Tissue Engineering
8 Engineering Cartilage Structures
IV: Biomaterials
9 Homogeneously Cross-Linked Scaffolds Based on Clinical-Grade Alginate for Transplantation and Tissue Engineering
10 Collagen and Hyaluronic Acid
11 Biodegradable Polymers
12 Photo-oxidized Osteochondral Transplants
V: Cells for Cartilage Repair
13 Chondrocytes
14 Quality Assurance of Autologous Chondrocyte Transplantation (ACT)
15 Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells: Isolation, Characterization and Chondrogenic Differentiation
VI: Experimental in Vivo Results
16 Chondrocytes and Polymer Fleeces
17 Chondrocytes and Fibrin Glue
18 Chondrocytes and Collagen Gels
19 Fabrication of Cartilage-Polymer Constructs for Articular Cartilage Repair
20 Differentiation of Human and Murine Chondrogenic Cells Encapsulated in Ultra-High Viscosity Alginate
VII: Future Perspectives
21 Skeletal Tissue Engineering in Cartilage Replacement: Future Perspectives and the New Age of Regenerative Medicine.