Liver cells made with 3D printer

[arikara]

The exploding technology trend of 3D printing, which has already been used to manufacture everything from food to jewelry, has made its way into the realm of biomedical research, with one California company recently announcing that it had "bioprinted" 3D liver cells.

The San Diego-based company Organovo says it has used the technology behind 3D printing to create samples of liver cells that function as they would in a human.

<snip>

The company's researchers used a gel to build three types of liver cells and arranged them into the same kind of three-dimensional cell architecture found in a human liver. Although not fully functional, the 3D cells were able to produce some of the same proteins as an actual liver does and interacted with each other and with compounds introduced into the tissue as they would in the body. That means biomedical researchers could potentially use the tissue to test drugs or investigate the effect of certain diseases.

Organovo's researchers are not the first to apply 3D printing to biomedicine. Doctors at the University of Michigan last year used a 3D printer to build a synthetic trachea for a child with a birth defect that had collapsed her airway, and as scientists and engineers get more familiar with the technology its uses will no doubt grow.

<snip>

http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/story/2013/06/07/business-3d-printing-video.html

I can't quite get a handle on this 3D printing but it sure sounds exciting.

[JaneyVee]

1. Might be time to buy stock.

[Matariki]

2. That was quite a while ago really

[JaneyVee]

3. I considered it last year, smacking my head now. This technology has only just begun.

[Matariki]

5. me too

[GeorgeGist]

18. Greed is good!

[JaneyVee]

20. Greed? Now we're calling middle class people greedy? Jeez, this place is getting weirder by the day.

[PoliticAverse]

4. Can they make bacon cells yet ??... n/t

[freshwest]

7. IDK about that, but they're working on cloning meat. No killing, no pain, still yucky...

[Heathen57]

23. Thanks for the info

I am working on a novel set in the future (a hundred years or so ahead) and I was thinking of using a protein vat that could be replicated into meat since there was no room any longer for raising meat. This cloning idea will fit in well.

Thank you for mentioning it.

[freshwest]

24. They are doing it now. Beats the slaughterhouse and all of that.

[Puzzledtraveller]

6. I wonder if "3D Printer" is now being used rather loosely in many of these articles

When you may find that some of the technology is in fact not close to a real 3D printer at all.

[jberryhill]

10. If only it was a "cloud 3D printer"

[undergroundpanther]

8. we might have replicator technology soon?

If so, time to get rid of money,hierarchy,spying and start letting people emotionally mature,and start a future without war financial abuse,domination and ads.
Oh wait the leaders of countries and corporations keep preventing that from happening because they're all a bunch of sociopaths.

[alittlelark]

11. This is replicator technology.

How soon will the PTB quash it?

[undergroundpanther]

16. Don't let them quash it

Keep memories sharp share this technology.

[rug]

9. How long before the porn industry gets a hold of this?

[PD Turk]

12. cool!!

Can it make some onions to go along with it?

[Heathen57]

13. This technology is booming

I had watched a special about how they can now grow things like ears and other body parts from using a basic structure and getting stem cells who have been altered to become that body part. That structure was printed on a Three-D printer.

I'm not sure just what they are using for the medium, but if these technologies continue to leap forward, they may soon have the ability to replace failing organs without the rejection that often comes with transplants.

Bringing new hope!

[undergroundpanther]

17. I'm a transguy

Can I finally get my penis installed?

[Heathen57]

22. I hadn't really thought about it,

but I imagine the technology will be there pretty soon. And by doing so, you won't have the problem of having skin taken from another body part and it should release the pain.

Of course, this will open up a whole new market for men who are not happy with their "endowment" to have a penis the size of John Holmes grown and then replace their present equipment. That is one company that I'll buy stock in.

[delrem]

14. I won't be satisfied until they can do a 3D printout of my brain.

[WCGreen]

15. He hah, pappa needs a new set of lungs....

[stillwaiting]

19. Weird Science! Bits and pieces, bits and pieces... nt

[Quantess]

21. Wow, amazing.

Kicking because it isn't about NSA.