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Musculoskeletal tissues can present congenital or acquired defects as a result of disease, accidental trauma or iatrogenous causes. This loss of bony substance is traditionally treated by the replacement of bony tissue (grafts or flaps), or by synthetic materials. Each of these methods of treatment, however, entails its specific disadvantages, limitations and complications. The recent approach for treatment of musculoskeletal defects has been the development of the growing of neotissues derived from autogenous cells, and artificial biodegradable matrixes. This method assumed the name "tissue engineering" in the late 1980s. Tissue Engineering, or TE, has employed advances made in the area of cellular culture, intercellular matrix biology, and also, in the area of biomaterial science. TE is an multi-disciplinary approach. Musculoskeletal TE, although in its preliminary stages, should allow access to treatments of the future.