bioprinting

IT’S ALIVE!? 3D Printing of Micro-Organs

Printing functioning organs may still sound like science fiction, but a new process for creating embryoid bodies (EB) by 3D printing embryonic stem cells (ESC) could bring us another step closer to turning science fiction into science fact.

3D Bioprinted Rhino Horns: Good or Evil?

A report on New Scientist describes how one company is bioprinting rhinoceros horns to save the troubled beast from extinction. Or are they?  Rhino horns are a highly desired product in some regions, as ground-up horn is considered a powerful aphrodisiac. Demand for rhino horn material has generated a culture of poachers in rhino-populated areas,… Continue reading 3D Bioprinted Rhino Horns: Good or Evil?

3D Printing Live Seeds

There’s a lot of people around the world trying to 3D print all types of materials, but this venture is a little different. What it prints is alive. 

Questions Trouble 3D BioPrinting

The ability to 3D print living human tissues, including skin and even organs, is under rapid development. When the technology becomes available, ethical questions must be answered. 

A New Approach to 3D Printed Skin

The University of Liverpool has developed a different approach to 3D printed skin, which had been previously accomplished. The problem with prior techniques is the appearance: manufactured skin was entirely uniform, without the bumps, wrinkles, freckles and curiosities of actual human skin.    The new approach involves scanning a subject’s surviving skin to  prepare a… Continue reading A New Approach to 3D Printed Skin

3D Bioprinting Saved by Vitamins

Researchers developing techniques to 3D print extremely small objects for medical purposes have had a problem. To fuse material at the nano scale, a “two photon” technique is used. The material becomes solid when exposed to the targeted photons.    However, bio material is not typically fusible, so researchers often print a scaffold on which… Continue reading 3D Bioprinting Saved by Vitamins

3D Printed Bacterial Cages

Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin have developed a new technique for studying bacterial growth through an ingenious use of 3D print technology.    The issue being solved is the study of bacterial growth. Present techniques involve petri dishes and similar vessels that, compared to a bacteria, are utterly massive. It is difficult… Continue reading 3D Printed Bacterial Cages

The State of Medical 3D Printing

Viktorija Samarinaite of CGTrader has published a detailed overview of the current state of 3D printing as applied to the medical and biological fields. The long post covers a wide spectrum of recent 3D printing medical miracles, including 3D printed hearing aids, dental work, prosthetics, casts, bioprinting and more.    We’ve covered most of this… Continue reading The State of Medical 3D Printing

NASA’s 3D Microdispenser

NASA often provides small amounts of funding to check out some pretty unusual ideas. One of the projects they’re currently funding is the feasibility of an advanced biocomposite microdispening system.    Wait, what the heck is that? We told you this was an unusual idea! The proposition is to use micro-components already available in the… Continue reading NASA’s 3D Microdispenser

Organovo 3D Prints a Human Liver

In a video report on CBC, Organovo CEO Keith Murphy describes his company’s latest achievement: 3D bioprinting portions of a human liver. Even more amazing is that the liver cells actually exhibit partial function.    Murphy says:   “Today we can print tiny parts of these organs…  About half a millimeter to a millimeter thick”.… Continue reading Organovo 3D Prints a Human Liver

BioHacking Leads to 3D BioPrinting?

A report on TechCrunch describes the work of two bio companies, Genome Compiler and Cambrian Genomics. They are developing hardware and software to design and print (the DNA) of new life forms.    The idea is to provide software (that’s Genome Compiler’s part) that allows a designer to combine different gene sequences together into a… Continue reading BioHacking Leads to 3D BioPrinting?

Princeton Scientists Create Bionic Ear

One of the most difficult parts of integrating electronics with biological tissue is getting the numerous tissues and materials to meld. At a lab in Princeton, New Jersey scientists are making progress on this effort using 3D printing.   According to Michael McAlpine, an assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Princeton, “In general,… Continue reading Princeton Scientists Create Bionic Ear

Organovo 3D Prints A Human Liver

Correction: Organovo printed human liver TISSUE – but that’s a major step along the way to printing an entire functioning liver. Organovo has been developing 3D bioprinting technology for some time now, focusing on producing functional tissue for experimentation. Keith Murphy, Chairman and CEO of Organovo said:    We have achieved excellent function in a… Continue reading Organovo 3D Prints A Human Liver

Multi-Armed Bioprinting

Researchers at the University of Iowa College of Engineering’s Center for Computer Aided Design have developed a rather interesting prototype bioprinter, capable of printing living tissue. The device, made by Ibrahim Ozbolat, assistant professor of mechanical and industrial engineering and doctoral student Howard Chen, does something no other 3D printer can do, whether for bioprinting… Continue reading Multi-Armed Bioprinting

Edinburg Scientist Print Stem Cells

Although controversial in the US, stem cell research offers some of the best opportunities to produce breakthrough medical discoveries, including growing tailor made replacement organs.   In a new development for bioprinting, Dr, Will Shu of Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh said,   “We found that the valve-based printing is gentle enough to maintain high stem… Continue reading Edinburg Scientist Print Stem Cells

A DIY BioPrinter

Not satisfied with printing in plastic? Why not print ACTUAL LIVING CELLS? You can today if you can execute the Instructable created by BioCurious, which you can build for the incredibly low cost of USD$150. Simply acquire the necessary parts and follow all the assembly steps.     This hack involves combining parts from a… Continue reading A DIY BioPrinter

3D Bioprinting Software?

According to a press release from bioprinting startup Organovo, they’ve partnered with CAD software giant Autodesk to produce tools specifically designed for creating bioprints.    Why this makes sense to us:  Autodesk is one of, if not the, leader in 3D design software across the industry. If anyone was to tackle this problem, it would… Continue reading 3D Bioprinting Software?

Printing Vascular Structures

While rapid prototyping of mechanical parts is still the mainstay of 3D printing, recent adoption of the technology by biomedical researchers has sparked interest in how additive manufacturing might be used in the future.   Doug Hendrie at Gizmag recently profiled a new advancement that couples 3D printing with tissue engineering.   Read More at… Continue reading Printing Vascular Structures

3D Photografting Introduced

Scientists at the Vienna Institute of Technology have developed a new technique they call “Photografting”, which promises to enable significant advances in bioprinting.    The new technique involves starting with a hydrogel, a porous material in which other molecules can be placed. Lasers then focus on specific spots within the 3D hydrogel and break apart… Continue reading 3D Photografting Introduced

Modern Meadow’s Meats’ Organovo Roots

A new bioprinting startup suddenly appeared: Modern Meadow, courtesy of a small investment by Internet billionaire Peter Thiel. It’s goal is to develop lab-grown “food grade animal protein”, also known as “meat”. The idea is to produce the protein without the massive environmental cost of actual cows, pigs and other meat-laden critters. Their one-line pitch… Continue reading Modern Meadow’s Meats’ Organovo Roots

What’s Down With Organovo?

A few short weeks ago we wrote a piece entitled, “What’s With Organovo?”, in which we pondered why the stock price of this bioprinting startup soared beyond belief. It seemed at the time there was no reasonable explanation for the stock price’s stratospheric behavior.    This week the answer has appeared: there really was no… Continue reading What’s Down With Organovo?

3D Printing Sugary Blood Vessels

A new breakthrough in medical 3D printing: researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a method of creating living tissue using 3D printing technology.    The researchers were concerned with the limitations of current bioprinting techniques, which are able to print layers of living tissue, but are less able to create the necessary  vasculature… Continue reading 3D Printing Sugary Blood Vessels

Bioprinting Advances

Bioprinting is something you’ll be hearing a lot more about in the future. It’s the application of 3D printing for medical purposes.    The idea is to produce human tissue for replacement of damaged portions, but it’s much more complicated than 3D printing simple plastic objects. Not only are you dealing with microscopic bits, but… Continue reading Bioprinting Advances

What’s With Organovo?

You may recall Organovo? They’re a bioprinting startup that is attempting to 3D print a variety of biological tissues, including Actual Human Organs! They say:    Organovo’s powerful NovoGen Bioprinting platform creates human tissues starting with any cell source. From disease models to tissue creation, bioprinting solves urged needs in biological research.   Their goal… Continue reading What’s With Organovo?

3D Printing Muscles

Organovo, the 3D Bioprinting startup, announced they’ve received USD$6.5M in a private placement investment to bolster their research budget.    Organovo has been working on the problem of 3D printing live human tissue – but not with the intention of surgically inserting said tissue into live humans. No, instead they wish to create live human… Continue reading 3D Printing Muscles

Printing Blood Vessels

Printing solid objects is pretty easy: you just extrude/fuse/sinter/flash the layers and you’ve got your whatever-it-is-you-wanted. It’s easy because typically these 3D prints are a uniform material all the way through. Occasionally experiments are done with multiple materials and one commercial 3D printer maker (Objet) has a technology that can print mixes of two different… Continue reading Printing Blood Vessels

BioPrinting Stem Cells

Continuing with our recent (and totally unexpected) theme of bioprinting, more researchers at Harvard have found a more effective way to print biomaterial with stem cells. Stem cells are very specialized living cells with the unique ability to theoretically spawn any other type of cell in the body, which of course would be incredibly useful… Continue reading BioPrinting Stem Cells

Printing Micrometer-Sized BioScaffolds

Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute have developed a new way to 3D print bioscaffolds. Scaffolds are three dimensional structures on which organic material (cells) may grow into properly formed tissue structures. Typically the scaffold then dissolves, leaving the newly formed tissue. The new process involves hitting a liquid concoction mixture of polymers and proteins with… Continue reading Printing Micrometer-Sized BioScaffolds

BioPrinting: Organovo Strikes Agreements

Organovo, the bioprinting startup that hopes to eventually print whole replacement human organs, has struck agreements with two pharma companies to assist in drug testing. Organovo will print tiny scaffolds on which human tissue can grow into lifelike shapes. These shapes tend to be better grounds for drug testing, as cells in a simple petri… Continue reading BioPrinting: Organovo Strikes Agreements

Billions For Organ Printing?

An article in the Washington Post explores the startling proposition of 3D printing human organs. This is an incredibly complex goal, since most 3D printing of today involves rather simplistic models: a shape made of a single consistent material deposited in a uniform manner. Yes, a few advanced commercial 3D printers might be able to… Continue reading Billions For Organ Printing?

Human Tissue Material?

Nano-engineers at the University of California in San Diego have developed a new biomaterial that evidently is a very close match for human tissue. This material is not a uniform substance, but is rather a particular geometry that exhibits stretching properties useful for bio-engineering.    The material is produced from a liquid polymer resin using… Continue reading Human Tissue Material?

The Tyee on 3D Printing

There’s a long article introducing 3D printing concepts appearing at The Tyee, a British Columbia-based electronic newsmagazine: “The Replicator, No Longer a Star Trek Dream”. The article contains interviews with Neil Gershenfeld, Director of MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, Adrian Bowyer, inventor of the RepRap, Fab Lab users, a RepRap owner, University of Missouri… Continue reading The Tyee on 3D Printing

Commercial Bioprinting Available Now

Invetech announced the availability of a commercial 3D Bioprinter. It’s being distributed by Organovo to research institutions around the world. What’s a Bioprinter? It’s essentially a 3D printer that deposits living cells according to a 3D model to form actual living tissue that can potentially be used inside living organisms. Typically a scaffold is used… Continue reading Commercial Bioprinting Available Now

Organ Printing Pondered

  We encountered several reports dealing with the fantastic idea of printing human organs using 3D printing technology. The premise is to deposit cells in the appropriate shape. Various prototypes have been attempted, including  liver tissue, branched vascular trees and cartilage. The bad news is that the experts predict it could be decades before such… Continue reading Organ Printing Pondered