Printers With A New Purpose

When pressed with the question, “what is the leading cause of death in America?”, what would you guess the answer to be? Some would argue drugs/alcohol, others guns/violence. Currently, medical experts are starting to think that the leading causes of death in the US is, in fact, a lack of organs for those in need of a transplant. Around 1/3 of American deaths annually could be delayed or prevented altogether if the patient were to receive an organ transplant.As organs can only be harvested from A). an organ donor who has died or B). the rare person who is the same blood type as you and willing to give you half of their liver, the scarcity of a viable organ is increasing as the names on the transplant list do as well. Doctors around the world are scrambling to fix the developing epidemic of, “Not Enough Organs!!!!”, since human organs are a weird thing to be running low on. One doctor in specific, Erik Gatenholm, has discovered the 3D bioprinter and believes this is the solution. Gatenholm met with tissue engineer Héctor Martínez, and the two brainstormed how they could use a 3D bioprinter to create artificial, yet viable organs. A huge milestone was crossed in early 2016 when they created Cellink- the world’s first standardized bio-ink. This commercialized ink that could be used to print organs is comprised mostly of nanocellulose alginate, which is partially extracted from seaweed. As of right now, since they are in the infancy of the bioprinting project, they have printed skin and cartilage, but have high hopes to create complex organs, such as a beating heart. A San Diego based company, Organovo, is also part of the world-wide bioprinting project. They are making huge strides in the cosmetic testing industry, as they have teamed up with makeup brand L’Oréal to print skin that could be used for testing new products instead animals. L’Oréal has also teamed with French company Poetis to create artificial hair follicles that can be used for the same purpose. With new scientific and medical advancements working hand in hand with technology, the world may soon be filled with artificial beating hearts that can save thousands of lives worldwide.