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Category: bioprinting – Page 2

Three-dimensional (3D) printing isn’t just a way to produce material products quickly. It also offers researchers a way to develop replicas of human tissue that could be used to improve human health, such as building organs for transplantation, studying disease progression and screening new drugs. While researchers have made progress over the years, the field has been hampered by limited existing technologies unable to print tissues with high cell density at scale.

A team of researchers from Penn State have developed a novel bioprinting technique that uses spheroids, which are clusters of cells, to create complex tissue. This new technique improves the precision and scalability of tissue fabrication, producing tissue 10-times faster than existing methods. It further opens the door to developing functional tissues and organs and progress in the field of regenerative medicine, the researchers said.

They published their findings in Nature Communications.

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Researchers at the University of Twente, Netherlands, have made an advancement in bioprinting technology that could transform how we create vascularized tissues. Their innovative bioink, recently featured in Advanced Healthcare Materials, introduces a way to precisely guide the growth and organization of tiny blood vessels within 3D-bioprinted tissues. The tiny blood vessels mimic the intricate networks found in the human body.

3D-printed organs have the potential to revolutionize medicine by providing solutions for organ failure, and tissue damage and developing new therapies. But a major challenge is ensuring these printed tissues receive enough nutrients and oxygen, which is critical for their survival and function. Without blood vessels, these tissues can’t efficiently obtain nutrients or remove waste, limiting their effectiveness. Therefore, the ability to 3D-bioprint blood vessels is a crucial advancement.

Tissue engineers could already position blood vessels during the bioprinting process, but these vessels often remodel unpredictably when cultured in the lab or implanted in the body, reducing the effectiveness of the engineered tissue. The programmable bioink developed by the University of Twente team addresses this issue by providing dynamic control over vessel growth and remodeling over time. This opens new possibilities for creating engineered tissues with long-term functionality and adaptability.

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Biomedical engineers from the University of Melbourne have invented a 3D printing system, or bioprinter, capable of fabricating structures that closely mimic the diverse tissues in the human body, from soft brain tissue to harder materials like cartilage and bone.

This cutting-edge technology offers cancer researchers an advanced tool for replicating specific organs and tissues, significantly improving the potential to predict and develop new pharmaceutical therapies. This would pave the way for more advanced and ethical drug discovery by reducing the need for animal testing.

Head of the Collins BioMicrosystems Laboratory at the University of Melbourne, Associate Professor David Collins said: In addition to drastically improving print speed, our approach enables a degree of cell positioning within printed tissues. Incorrect cell positioning is a big reason most 3D bioprinters fail to produce structures that accurately represent human tissue.

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This development comes from…

Researchers have designed a high-speed 3D bioprinter to accurately print human tissues.

Interestingly, this advanced bioprinter is capable of fabricating a diverse array of tissues, including both soft brain tissue and harder materials such as cartilage and bone.

Continue reading “New high-speed 3D bioprinter uses acoustics to print human tissues” | >

A way to re grow new parts, perfect DNA match, eventually? Will take Agi / ASI to realize full potential, we ll see.

For this, the researchers have created a compact bioprinter to develop biological tissues with microfilament structures. He is now working to bring this technology to market.

“Our aim is to create human tissue models for high-throughput drug screening and other applications,” Liu said.

Continue reading “3D laser bioprinter designed for precise human tissue engineering” | >

A research team at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science has developed what it believes could be the template for the first building blocks for human-compatible organs printed on demand.

Liheng Cai, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering and chemical engineering, and his Ph.D. student, Jinchang Zhu, have made biomaterials with controlled mechanical properties matching those of various human tissues.

“That’s a big leap compared to existing bioprinting technologies,” Zhu said.

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I have a new essay out via the wonderful site Merion West. The article is based on some of my experimental writings at Oxford. I hope you’ll read and consider it. I’m highly worried life extension science isn’t moving forward fast enough!

“Sadly, biological humans are likely to be mortal for centuries more, unless a dramatic increase of both resources and life extension scientists are marshaled.”

Certain well-known gerontologists and longevity experts around the world believe that sometime in this century—probably in the next 15–50 years—medicine will likely overcome and cure most forms of disease, and even death itself. Billionaires such as Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Alphabet’s Larry Page, and Oracle’s Larry Ellison have jumped on board, pledging billions of dollars to “conquering all disease by this century” and mortality altogether.

These business titans hope age reversal techniques via genetic editing therapies, stem cell rejuvenation, 3D bioprinting of organs, and the widespread creation of synthetic organs like artificial hearts could keep people indefinitely young and healthy. If biological human death from disease and aging are overcome, then only catastrophic accidental death—such as an airplane crash or incineration—can kill people. (Accidental death in this vein accounts for about seven percent of all deaths in the United States.)

Continue reading “When We’re Overly Optimistic about the Pace of Life Extension Research” | >

Nanomaterials manufacturing, 3D bioprinting, and astronaut eye health were the main research topics aboard the International Space Station on Friday. The Expedition 71 crew members also continued servicing spacesuits and conducted an emergency drill.

The SpaceX Dragon cargo spacecraft recently delivered to the orbital outpost a biotechnology study to demonstrate the in-space production of nanomaterials that mimic DNA. NASA Flight Engineers Jeanette Epps and Mike Barratt worked on the second portion of that experiment on Thursday mixing then treating the research samples for analysis. Epps began her day mixing solutions in the Life Science Glovebox to create specialized nanomaterials. During the afternoon, Barratt applied sound and light treatments to the samples then stowed them aboard Dragon for analysis back on Earth. Results may lead to advanced therapies for space-caused and Earthbound health conditions.

The duo partnered back together at the end of the day for eye scans using standard medical imaging gear found in an optometrist’s on Earth. Barratt operated the hardware with guidance from doctors on the ground peering into Epp’s eyes and examining her retina and optic nerve for the B Complex eye health investigation.

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