The state of the art in polymeric materials for tissue engineering as well as the needs and concerns for future medical applications are outlined and discussed and brought into relation to recent developments in polymer chemistry. Particularly, the recent developments in micro-and nano-structured polymeric monoliths designed for these purposes will be discussed. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 2219-2227, 2009