3D Printing Organs

Paul Hoskins
Bio 1610 Sec 008
13/Mar/2017

                3-D printing is still considered a new technology but the applications for it are still growing. Originally the 3-D printer was looked at as a fancy toy builder or even a expensive parlor trick but now people are seeing more than just shapes and parts, now scientist are trying to make limbs and even organs. Printing new body parts is a great way for people who have lost or were born without limbs to gain some function back that can be more comfortable and, with the technology of 3-D printing growing, more cost effective. But an advancement that has been a desire and has been out of the grasp of scientist is to create donor organs.

                With approximately 120,000 people on a wait-list for a lifesaving organ transplant and another name adding every 10 min the need for this advancement is obvious how to go about it is something that’s been a difficulty for scientist. Until two weeks ago, when a group of scientist at the University of California San Diego lead by nano-engineering professor Shaochen Chen created the first vasculature made by a 3-D printer. The vasculature in the body is the arrangement or the distribution of blood vessels in an organ or body part that can transport blood, nutrients, waste and other material through the body. Until now the only thing that 3-D printing could make was simple tubes and valves which cannot be integrated with the body. This new system is a quicker and more cost-effective way of making blood vessels and other parts, it starts by taking 2-D pictures of the biological structure and transfers it to a computer where it is transferred into a 3-D structure that can be used. While this is not a fully man made organ that could save the on average 22 people that die every day waiting on the transplant list this is a huge step in that direction. The importance of this is highlighted by Professor Chen when he said, “Almost all tissues and organs need blood vessels to survive and work properly. This is a big bottleneck in making organ transplants, which are in high demand but in short supply…., 3-D bioprinting organs can help bridge this gap…”. This advance could mean so much to people and their families waiting for a transplant.

                The article I read was absolutely amazing the more I think about it. This advancement hit pretty close to home because my Grandfather had kidney failure and didn’t want to receive kidney from anyone especially family, he was worried that there was a chance that the kidney failure would pass to his children. But with this discovery it could leave out the need for someone to lose one of their kidneys or part of their liver it would be something made specifically for the person and would save thousands if not millions of lives.