The reconstruction of weight-bearing joint surfaces has long been a challenge for the orthopedic surgeon. The statistical rise in life expectancy, the spread of high-risk sports and leisure-time activities combined with high demands for painfree joint function even in older age as a factor for contemporary quality of life are the demographic factors of the bone and joint decade announced by the WHO. Osteoarthritis represents a multifactorial, irreversible, often heterogeneous joint disease with joint destruction as the inevitable consequence. Conventional and innovative intra-articular operative methods for the treatment of osteoarthritis are presented and discussed. Tissue engineering stands for vitalizing tissue modification by modification of cellular and humoral mechanisms. Thus, new therapy options for curing degenerative joint diseases will arise in the future. Autologous chondrocyte transplantation (ACT) represents one of the first clinically established methods. The paradigm of treating osteoarthritis by the orthopedic surgeon will be multimodal in the future. Innovative techniques in the biotechnological sector provide a promising horizon.