Researchers face many challenges, both scientific and societal, in the field of tissue engineering. Herein we discuss the challenges in material design, selection of therapeutic cell source, the in vitro culturing of cells and materials, and finally the integration of the cultured construct into the body. We focus special attention on a new approach to the design of a biomaterial that would bridge synthetic and biologic materials seamlessly. The scaffolds we have developed serve as a transitional material between biotic and abiotic systems.