The loss or failure of an organ or tissue is one of the most devastating and costly problems in healthcare. Tissue engineering is a new field that applies the principles of biology, engineering and the life science in the development of functional substitutes for damaged tissue. Regeneration involves the creation of tissue identical to that which has been lost or injured. In contrast, tissue repair restores the damaged area with functional but different tissue. This approach uses two main components: cells and scaffolds. Scaffold development underpins the advancement of tissue engineering. Materials used for scaffold preparation play a major role and have found widespread biomedical applications in the development of synthetic skin substitutes, controlled drug release delivery, artificial tissue and organs, and biosensors. They have numerous advantages, such as biocompatibility, biodegradability, and antibacterial properties. They are safe for human use.