Using a printer to create tissues sounds like like science-fiction, but researchers are making rapid progress in the field of bioprinting. While printing off replacement organs for human transplantation may be years off, early applications of bioprinted tissues are currently being used in pharmaceutical development and academic research laboratories for biomarker discovery, drug screening, and toxicology testing. Bioprinted tissues may also reach clinical laboratories in the not-so-distant future.“The concept of bioprinting, which is essentially an extension of the philosophy that uses additive manufacturing methods to build complex scaffold structures, can be thought of as a combination of (i) different types of cells in defined locations, (ii) supporting matrix or scaffolds (if required), and (iii) biochemical cues to control behavior,” writes Brian Derby, Ph.D., from the University of Manchester in a review piece published in the Nov. 16 issue of Science. “Although bioprinting has its origins in the area of tissue engineering and is sometimes described as organ printing, there are other application areas where a printed or artificially fabricated tissue analog structure is useful, including cell-based sensors, drug/toxicity screening.” How It Works Progress in bioprinting is happening at the intersection of biotechnology and manufacturing. It is based on the computer-controlled […]