Gelatin-based monomers were considered. as suitable base component for the 3D Structuring of potential bone replacement materials by stereolithographic techniques Different methacrylate-based gelatin derivatives were prepared, whereas a polyethylene glycol modified derivative GP4M turned out to have the highest tolerance toward other monomers. These are essential as they allow the tuning of the photoreactivity and the mechanical properties. Cell Culture experiments with osteoblast- and endothelial-like cells confirmed negligible cytotoxicity of these monomers. Finally, we were able to show the possibility of producing arbitrary cellular structures with these gelatin-containing formulations using stereolithography. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A Polym Chem 47 7078-7089, 2009