{"id":100903,"date":"2020-01-15T16:24:27","date_gmt":"2020-01-16T00:24:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/we-are-one-step-closer-to-3d-printing-human-organs-in-outer-space"},"modified":"2020-01-15T16:24:27","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T00:24:27","slug":"we-are-one-step-closer-to-3d-printing-human-organs-in-outer-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2020\/01\/we-are-one-step-closer-to-3d-printing-human-organs-in-outer-space","title":{"rendered":"We are one step closer to 3D printing human organs in outer space"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/we-are-one-step-closer-to-3d-printing-human-organs-in-outer-space2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>You might call it a giant leap for 3D bioprinting: Human heart cells have been 3D printed on the International Space Station (ISS) and are making their way back to Earth this week inside a SpaceX capsule. The 3D BioFabrication Facility (BFF) was developed by Techshot Inc., a commercial operator of microgravity research and manufacturing equipment, in partnership with nScrypt, a manufacturer of industrial 3D bioprinters and electronics printers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur BFF has the potential to transform human healthcare in ways not previously possible,\u201d said Techshot President and CEO John Vellinger.\u201d We\u2019re laying the foundation for an entire industry in space.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019re wondering why they don\u2019t just print the cells here on Earth, the answer is gravity. When attempting to print with soft, easily flowing biomaterials on Earth, the tissues collapse under their own weight, resulting in little more than a puddle, explained Techshot in a press release. \u201cBut when these same materials are used in the microgravity environment of space, the 3D-printed structures maintain their shapes.\u201d The bio-ink used in the space station, consequently, did not contain the scaffolding materials or thickening agents normally required to resist the Earth\u2019s gravitational pull.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You might call it a giant leap for 3D bioprinting: Human heart cells have been 3D printed on the International Space Station (ISS) and are making their way back to Earth this week inside a SpaceX capsule. The 3D BioFabrication Facility (BFF) was developed by Techshot Inc., a commercial operator of microgravity research and manufacturing [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":542,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1489,1503,11,1514],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-3d-printing","category-bioprinting","category-biotech-medical","category-space-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100903","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/542"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100903"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100903\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100903"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100903"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100903"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}