The principle behind tissue engineering and regenerative medicine is to develop a functional replacement for damaged or diseased tissues. In the case of bone, current graft technologies focus on promoting repair through direct osteogenesis. Clinical limitations associated with these therapies include osteonecrosis and poor integration between graft and regenerate. We hypothesized that promoting bone regeneration through a cartilage intermediate, which is the pathway for long bone development and fracture repair, would overcome these problems to promote a vascularized and integrated bone regenerate. - See more at: http://bioeng.berkeley.edu/2012systemwide/orals/session1abstracts#sthash...