Assignment Cell&Tissue(1)

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

LECTURER’S 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 egg’s mitochondria does not match well with the somatic cell’s 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 invitro 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 God’s 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 it’s 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 pig’s.

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, human’s immune system and pig’s 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 patient’s 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 profession’s 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

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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/

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Jones, J. (1999).Cloning may cause health defects. Retrieved on November 29, 2016 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1115633/