Owing to their enhanced fracture mechanics, many materials target the replacement of tough tissues, such as cartilage, muscle (ligaments, tendons), or even bone. Cartilage tissue is often described to have a fracture energy of Γ = 0.2-1.2 kJ/m 2 , although these values are measured for canine cartilage. Analogous to skin, it is well known that cartilage fracture properties can vary significantly between left or right cartilage, depending on the collagen fiber orientation and tissue location, and within different animal specimen and across species. Hence, human articular cartilage may differ from what has been reported for animals. Overall, this analysis reveals a substantial knowledge gap regarding the fracture mechanics of human tissue and more studies on the fracture mechanics of biological tissues are needed.