FLASH FORWARD: Will We Soon Be Able to Print New Organs?
John Shirley
Need a new Liver or heart or kidney? Soon you’ll be able to PRINT ONE OUT!
A friend of mine recently died from kidney failure. The transplant of a new kidney, genetically appropriate for him, would have saved his life. But they’re hard to come by, and they’re rarely of a genetic typology that won’t be rejected by the body of the recipient. Can replacement organs come from a 3D printer? That’s the ultimate goal of the bioprinting program at the Wake Forest Institute’s School of Medicine. They’re one of many institutes investigating the possibility of printing tissues and organs.…