Bioprinters: Printing a bit of me

UK Only Article:  standard article Issue:  Printing a bit of me Fly Title:  Bioprinters Rubric:  Bioprinting: Building living tissue with a 3D printer is becoming a new business, but making whole organs for transplant remains elusive Main image:  20140308_TQD007_0.jpg IN A state-of-the-art clean room, a scientist clad in a full-body containment suit, a hair net and blue gloves is preparing some printing cartridges—filled not with ink but a viscous milky liquid. Next to her sits a computer connected to a machine that resembles a large ice-cream dispenser, except that each of its two nozzles is made of a syringe with a long needle. Once the scientist clicks on the “run program” button, the needles extrude not a vanilla or chocolate-flavoured treat, but a paste of living cells. These bioinks are deposited in precise layers on top of each other and interspersed with a gel that forms a temporary mould around the cells. Forty minutes later, the task is finished. Depending on the choice of bioink and ...
Source: Biotechnology - Category: Biotechnology Source Type: news