"MEDICAL: Novel ink-jet app: organ replication"
Researchers recently demonstrated a process that one day may enable ink-jet printed human organs to be formed using cells donated by the person receiving the organ, to ensure biocompatibility. The donor's cells would be printed in layers, alternating with structural gels. The recent experiments, conducted at the University of Missouri (Columbia), involved the use of biological "cues" to enable successful self-assembly of designer tissue. "We can now make three-dimensional hollow biological tubes and organ 'modules,' which could be used as grafts or for doing research," said Gabor Forgacs, a biological physicist at the university. "A fully functional organ is still too complex-but the human body is composed of many hollow tubes like ours."
Audio Interviews / Text: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20040225S0026