UWB 20302

TECHNICAL WRITING

CELL & TISSUE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

BNN 20104

SEMESTER 1
SESSION 2016/2017
2BNN

GROUP 10

ASSIGNMENT ON
CHAPTER 5 & 6

MUHAMMAD ADIB BIN ABIDI AN 150405

AMIR HAMZAH BIN ABD RASHID DN 150243
KOH SZE YEEN AN 150398
AIDA AYUNI BINTI MAZLAN DN 150322
NUR RASYIDAH RAZNI BINTI MOHAMAD RASUL AN 150097

LECTURERS NAME : DR NOOR AKHMAZILLAH BINTI

MOHD FAUZI

SUBMISSION DATE : 1ST DISEMBER 2016

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Cell and tissue engineering is an interdisciplinary area that applies the principles and applications
of bioengineering, material science, and life sciences toward the assembly of biologic substitutes that
will restore, maintain, and improve cell and tissue functions following damage either by traumatic
processes or disease. The general principles of cell and tissue engineering involved living cells with a
natural, synthetic support or scaffold combined to build a three dimensional living construct that is
functionally, structurally and mechanically equal to or better than the tissue before. The development
of such a construct needed a careful selection of four key materials which are scaffold, growth factors,
extracellular matrix, and cells. Much progress has been made in the area of cell and tissue engineering,
but further work toward organ and tissue replacement is necessary. The optimal cell source, scaffold
design, and in vitro bioreactors, uses and development of microfabrication technology to create vascular
tissues and organs are still being study. The search for and use of an appropriate cell in tissue
engineering is an emerging concept. Certainly, many areas of cell research and their potential clinical
applications are associated with controversies. Therefore, it is important to address the ethical, legal,
and social issues early before start research. All engineers face similar ethical issues regardless of their
field of research. There are six canons code of ethics that outlined by The National Society of
Professional Engineers composed of: Act for each employer or client as faithful agents or trustees,
Preform services only in areas of their competence, Issue public statements only in an objective and
truthful manner, Avoid deceptive acts, Hold paramount the safety, health, and welfare of the
public, and conduct themselves honorably, responsibly, ethically, and lawfully so as to enhance the
honor, reputation, and usefulness of the profession. Some ethical issues currently in tissue engineering
are the use of stem cells, future patient access, and patient claims. The scaffolding methods listed above
use stem cells to multiple their tissue samples. Because most embryonic stem cells are generates from
human embryos there is also substantial ethical issue debated over whether or not they should be used
for research and in healthcare. Similarly if tissue engineering proceeds to develop artificial organs, it
will require to decided who they will available for. The discussion below is more details to improve our
understanding in the application of Cell and Tissue Engineering and its ethical issue that occurred in
this field.

2.0 CRITIQUE ON CLONING

Cloning is the process of asexual reproduction which produce similar populations of genetically
identical individuals that occurs in nature .There are a few of successful example in cloning and it comes
out with numerous possible application in the near future but we still cannot deny the negative effect
caused by the cloning regarding the ethical issue.
2.1 ADVANTAGES OF CLONING

One of the advantages of cloning is to preserve the endangered species. We identified that many
articles have been published which are about the potential of cloning in efforts on preserving the
endangered species. There are an excellent example here. Enderby Island cattle are a breed of cattle that
existed in a wild state for over 80 years in isolation on Enderby Island, New Zealand. There are only 7
specimens remain today on mainland New Zealand. Hence, cloning become an intensive efforts to
perpetuate the breed in captivity. For this cases, they using an adult somatic cell nuclear transfer to
preserve the last survival cow of the Enderby Island cattle breed from New Zealand (Figure 1).
Therefore, progeny can now be obtained from the cloned females to recover the breed gradually via
sexual reproduction since a few straws of semen of the Enderby Island breed still remained. Scientists
nowadays working hard to help and save the endangered species from being extinct. Since cloning can
produce genetically identical individuals so it is such a solution to cope the problem of endangered
species. To preserve the endangered animals, recovery programs of endangered species have been
carried out to solve the potential problems with inbreeding. Several breeds of domestic animals are
being extinguished gradually due to lack of market advantage when compared with the most productive
dairy and beef breeds. It should be a system, devices or program to store samples of somatic tissue of
different individuals for each type of breed in liquid nitrogen to make precaution for the irreversible
loss of such genetic pools.

Figure 1: Enderby Island cattle breed from New Zealand

Moreover, cloning also help in production of food demand. As the population increase, the
amount of food need to produce also increases. However, it require a long time for an animal or a plant
grow. Therefore, the problems of food shortages become serious nowadays. The quantities of
agriculture product produce cannot overcome the food consumption of human population all over the
world. Hence, cloning requires to handle this problems. Organisms that have been genetically altered
using the techniques of genetic engineering are referred to as transgenic. Transgenic organisms offer an
alternative to traditional methods of animal and plant breeding. The traditional methods are slow as it
relies on chance due to crossing over during meiosis and random segregation of chromosomes during
sexual reproduction.

We found that production of transgenic animals and plants by using techniques of cloning help
to increase the yield and improves food production in the developing countries. It is very important due
to rapidly growth of population. It also can improve quality of food in terms of health or digestibility,
for example oil, fat and protein. For example, Genetically-Modified (GM) maize (Figure 2) with
increased lysine was developed by inserting a cordapA gene from a common soil bacteria
Corynebacterium glutamicum. Accumulation of free lysine in the GM corn kernel help to gain body
weight, feed conversion and carcass yields of experimental poultry and swine comparable with animals
fed with Lysine supplemented diets, and higher than those fed with conventional maize diets. Besides
that, we can also produce the plants and animals with desirable properties such as resistant to pest and
disease. For example, introduction of genes which confer resistance to certain herbicides. Hence, the
crop can be sprayed with the herbicides and only weeds will be killed. In addition, it also increasing
tolerance of or resistance to environmental stress such as drought, cold, heat or crowded conditions. For
example, crops, tolerance to wind damage, acid or salty soils, waterlogged soils. The genes controlling
stress responses can be isolated and moved from one organism to another.

Figure 2: Genetically-Modified (GM) maize

2.2 DISADVANTAGES OF CLONING

The method of cloning have been established and develop in medical and biological field for
many scientific reason. However, there are also negative effect caused by cloning. Not all the
significance and advantages are reliable because it tend to give a future problem to the next generation.
For example, cloning technique produce a genetically identical offspring which then caused a lack
variation of offspring. The production of clone organisms from one somatic cell will produce a progeny
which are alike and have same DNA but low diversity of genes. Genes which carried the information
of each organisms or known as alleles provide a survival benefit to a population. So, the species with a
large amount of genetic variation will frequently alter a particular alleles by natural selection in a
response to environment conditions. For a certain case, a specific genes of moth contributing to
colouration and help the moth to camouflage. However, a resurgence of light-coloured moth limit the
ability to survive in their natural habitat. Thus, the low genetic diversity lead to low ability to adapt on
a different environment condition and increased the potential extinction. So, it is proved that the clone
organisms are hard to adapt and have a short life span. Dolly an early cloned species is also one of the
example. It was clone from a nuclear transfer process from a somatic cell but it not live longer.

Cloning activities also cause a high morbidity. Morbidity can define as the frequency of disease
or death to occur in specific area. The major risk of cloning is to face loss in form of death and infection
of disease. The rate of cloned animal death are significantly higher because most of them cannot survive
longer. The problem is why so many cloned animal die before or during the process. It have become a
debate issue among a people. It proves that scientists are be irresponsible and cruel toward the animal.
Usually the cloned species die because the host eggs mitochondria does not match well with the
somatic cells mitochondria. Furthermore, the probability to produce uncertain results are high besides
the result of died. For example the offspring undergo mutation, abnormal development, genetic damage,
malformation or pregnancy losses. Mutation in cloning can happens as the somatic cells is mutated
during cell division process. As the somatic cell play a significant role it resulted the cloned animal
become weak or having a lethal effect. The uncertain results also may come from error during the in-
vitro phase. Even the new species that have being clone are successful reproduce but there are highly
exposed to many health problem and may suffer along their life. This is due to the adaption of new
environment or weak body defences that make it easily become infected. A cloned brood that lack of
variation genes may not carried an important genes to protect their body. There are the case where a
two month old calf that cloned from an adult calf died after developing blood and heart problems. The
new clone can be dangerous as it introduced an ancient bacteria or viruses back. So, role of scientists
are very important to identify the disease and avoid to infection from other people.
 Scientific limitation that cause from social acceptance is one of the obstacle of cloning
application. Cloning become an issue because it have been claim as unethical and immoral action for
some people and not be applicable in our society. It seem a violation to a religious belief which against
a Gods sake and natural law. Besides, we try to creating a life. A new individual is produce without
natural reproductive process but through artificial process. Since, sex among the natural being will
become inconvenience. As example scientist can bring back extinct species by cloning them. For a
certain reason anyone can become greed and try to act as a god by a creating a clone human or animal
to replace the original one. Although it is not impossible project today since to a high technology but it
will leave a great impact to a population. Other than that, they try to modify and design a perfect clone
compare to the flawed natural being. While we want to create a prefect species without a flaw, the old
species will become extinct. Due to the crisis it have become an argument which received a great
attention from the public. This project faced a great objection from a majority of people and not yet
being approved. In spite of attempts to ban the cloning project there are scientist that still proceed the
project with another agenda. In this case, it probably lead to a fraud practices such as a black market. It
will become inhuman and immoral behaviour as we act to selling of cloning body organ and make its
as a property. Before Cloning Prohibition Act of 1997 have been introduced, former US President Bill
Clinton believed that using somatic cell nuclear transfer cloning technique to create a human being is
untested, unsafe and morally unacceptable. For instance, cloning of hybrid animal can probably invite
abuse as it not an easy process and animal usually being experiment violently opposite to moral
prohibitions and principles. It gives a negatives consequences to the animal which will experience pain
and suffering during the cloning procedures. The chosen species then will become endanger species.

3.0 EVALUATION ON XENOTRANSPLANTATION

Xenotransplantation is an organ or tissue transplantation, but the different is, the concept is the
recipient is still a human being, but the donor is taken from nonhuman or an animal species. WHY IT
HAS TO BE FROM ANIMALS DONOR? Why not from another human being? Or at least the use of
any artificial organ? This is the very first question that comes up into our mind when we proceed on
Xenotransplantation issue. Apparently, there are a numbers of factors or rationales that roots to the
xenotransplantation usage around the globe. Firstly, the statistic has proven that since the last 50 years,
world have been replacing damaged human heart valves with pigs.

Shockingly, the most common animal that is used for its organ as a donor, is pig. Generally, there
are a few types of tissue or organ plantation, or also known as tissue or organ graft. As portrayed from
the Figure 3 from the right hand side, first is autograft, where the donor and the recipient are both the
from the very same body. Next, isograft is when the donor and recipient are from different body but
have identical genetic readings. Next is allograft, the donor is taken from different body but still the
same species. And the last image portraying zenograft, as the donor is taken from different body from
different species.

Figure 3: Types of tissue or organ plantation

Last but not least, the research of xenotransplantation is still undergoing and still has lots more
to be disclosed. Reaseachers also find this graft is highly potential in the future due to the demands and
low cost. Moreover, the transplant does not need for another person to sacrifice or even die for each
other just because the lacking of organ or tissues. There are still a lot of advantages will be depicted on
the next page, following by the disadvantages that occurred involving this issue.

3.1 ADVANTAGES OF XENOTRANSPLANTATION

Apparently, hundreds of people have lost their lives waiting for organ or tissue donor that is
hardly available from other people around the world. Might seem insane yet inhuman, but just ourselves.
Would we donate our organ to another person in need? The answer might be dependent but generally,
we hardly do that because it cost us our lives.
 Thus, Xenotransplantation can deal with the shortage organs that are available to be donated to
those people in need. By far, the available ones are taken from the damaged body (that might involve
in accident and is fully externally damaged) or a body that is in brain death condition. Even if there is
individuals who want to donor, there is still a number of issues that might stop it, such as the different
type of blood that is not compatible to the recipient. Other than that the different kind of human
leukocyte antigen (HLA). What is HLA anyways? The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) system or
complex is a gene complex encoding the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins in humans.
These cell-surface proteins are responsible for the regulation of the immune system in humans. What
makes it very tricky for allograft (human to human transplant) is almost every cell has different kind of
these proteins on its surface, what makes it worse is, if recipient antibody, or its immune system
recognize that foreign proteins or HLA, it will attack the transplanted organ. This can lead to severe
internal blood clot, new organ failure or any other transplant rejection symptoms.

Furthermore, if Xenotransplantation is becoming more and more successful in the future,

scientist or biologist might save a lot of human lives and money due to the research now can be done
on animals rather than on human embryos or organs, which is at the same time, very comparatively
cheaper. As the matter of facts, there are factors that support this statement that proving we, human
beings, have lots of commons with pigs. As an example, humans immune system and pigs work in a
similar way, the organs of both basically do the same thing and the size are not remarkably varies. This
eventually can cause the world to have an unlimited supplies of organs that are ready to be donated
anytime anywhere with the less amount of money needed due to the abundance sources.

Nevertheless, the future might give us more about the reveal about the genetics, especially
between species for the sake of biotechnology that is unimaginable for now, but possible for future. As
being said on the previous paragraph, there are still a number of transplant rejection symptom or maybe
failure occur after the plantation due to many factors. As an example, virtually, there is one way that
has zero potential of rejection, which by using the organ that is made up by the patients own cells.
Assuming, the lung is taken out from the body of the donor (let say a pig), and all the cells are removed
leaving the connective tissues that give the lung its shape. Then, those removed cells are replaced by
the stem cells from the patient. The cells that are attached to the connective tissues will further dividing
and differentiating themselves and form a complete organ that the body will not trace any foreign cells.
Despite this has been done by scientist, but they still have way to go to complete the research.

3.2 DISADVANTAGES OF XENOTRANSPLANTATION

Every pros they will be cons follow up to it. The very basic is as we can see, the technology of
mixing cells, tissues and organs from different species just seem extraordinarily astonishing as it just
sounds like in superheroes movies but it actually can be done with aid of technology and knowledge.
However, just like a superheroes movie, superhero creates its supervillain. Theoretically, these
combination process between species will create the evolution of the new bacteria, viruses or also called
zoonosis. They might be incurable or dangerous in the future. What is worse is, further genetic research
will produce more genetic manipulation.

Figure 4: Illustration of Genetic Manipulation

Next, this studies and researches still have much to go. This means, world might need to spend a
lot of money on the research itself. Moreover, there is not logical this sort of technology needs a simple
machinery, high-en technological system and machinery probably needed and that is extremely costly.
Except for the money, the time is put to risk. There are not guarantee that the research takes short period
of time to be successful.

Nevertheless, except the time and money, there are abundant lives of animals need to be
sacrificed for the sake of researcher and experiments. This might initiate the protestors that claim the
animal rights are violated for sake of human mankind and also claim it to be very selfish. This eventually
can challenge world peace and small rebellion could possibly happen.
4.0 CONCLUSION

Today every profession has a code of ethics which are used to hold their members to the
professional conduct and highest degree of integrity. In engineering the observation and obedience to
these ethics is of the upmost importance. Without following to a code of ethics, engineers could
endanger the public and damage their professions reputation. This hypothetical scenario has provided
us a lot of insight into how vital ethics are to engineers. I was not expected so many ethical situations
to arise from one scenario. I would highly suggest that all engineers in field of tissue engineering
familiarize themselves as much as possible with their respective ethical codes as well as analyze several
case studies. Without this knowledge in engineer itself may find them in a situation which is forcing
themselves to compromise on some of their ethics. An engineer with a strong knowledge and
background of these ethics issue would be able to handle these issues appropriately or circumvent them
entirely. With all engineers obeying to the ethical guidelines that established for them, we will continue
to develop and advance our profession and bring countless new technologies and innovations to the
world.

5.0 REFERENCES

Smith, L.C.,Bordignon, V., Babkine, M., Fecteau, G. & Keefer, C. (2000). Benefits and problems
with cloning animals. Can Vet J Vol 41,pp 919-924
Xu, J.& Yang, X. (2003).Will cloned animals suffer premature aging. Retrieved on November 29,
2016 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC305328/
Jones, J. (1999).Cloning may cause health defects. Retrieved on November 29, 2016 from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1115633/