🤩 New 3D Bioprinter Creates Tissue 350 Times Faster

Engineers at the University of Melbourne have invented a 3D bioprinter that can accurately replicate various human body tissues, from soft brain structures to cartilage and bone.

⁉️ How it works

Conventional bioprinters layer cells onto a solid base or platform. However, many cells and sensitive tissues can't survive long printing times, and the finished samples are easily damaged. The new printer creates tissues in a liquid environment using vibrating bubbles, speeding up the process nearly 350 times. In addition, the method allows for precise cell positioning, which is often impossible to achieve with standard approaches.

"Just as a car requires its mechanical components to be arranged precisely for proper function, so must the cells in our tissues be organized correctly. Current 3D bioprinters depend on cells aligning naturally without guidance, which presents significant limitations," explains David Collins, head of the Collins BioMicrosystems Laboratory at the University of Melbourne.

Where it can be useful

➡️ Better tissue models replicate human biology much more accurately. This would help accelerate drug discovery, allowing doctors to predict the therapies' side effects better and tailor targeted, highly personalized treatments for cancer and other diseases.

➡️ Clinical trials on "printed" organs would be an ethical alternative to animal testing.

➡️ Developers have already shared the new technology with leading research centers around the world, including Harvard Medical School.

More on the topic:

➡️ How AI Is Pioneering New Drug Discoveries

➡️ The Largest AI Model for Protein Design

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