The UW’s Dr. Kelly Stevens, a professor of bioengineering, is leading a group of scientists and bioengineers from the UW, Rice University, and Duke University in an effort to 3D-print organs. Their findings were published on May 3 in Science Magazine.
Though the technology to print usable organs is still far in the future, the group has been able to make significant strides by creating a biosynthetic material, creating synthetic liver tissue that was successfully implanted into mice, and by creating a proof-of-concept air sac that mimicked lung functions.
Their first goal was to create a biosynthetic material that could be layered using a 3D printer. The challenge up to this point for printing artificial tissue has been creating a liquid material called bioink that is able to handle the complexity of organs.
