Bio-Printing

By Kaitlynn Bayne

Remember when 3-D printing just seemed like something out of a sci-fi movie?  Well as we all know, this “fantasy” has become a reality.  You can buy a 3-D printer and print many things you need, even shoes!  But here’s something you probably never thought of: how about a 3-D printer that prints functioning organs?  Those might be a little more useful than shoes, right?  Although it sounds extremely unrealistic, it is a lot closer to becoming a reality than you might think.

Okay, so there won’t be a new template online that will have your printer magically make working organs.  However, scientists from the Universities of Sydney, Harvard, Stanford and MIT have been working on a type of technology called “bio-printing.”  The idea is similar to a 3-D printer, using interconnected tiny fibers and cell-rich protein-based material to make up the tissues (which would be the material used to make the organs). 

Although the technology is not at a point where it can start being used in hospitals, it is well on its way.  They have successfully bio-printed small parts of tissues in the lab.  This means that there is definitely a possibility that in the future, whole organs could be made with this technology.  Right now, there is a much higher demand for organs than there are organ donors.  Just imagine being able to print out a full organ at a hospital and it saving somebody’s life.  That would be incredible.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/06/140630103136.htm

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