Interesting >>>> We print organs on a printer?
We print organs on a printer?
No sooner had humanity learned to create sneakers, cars and buildings on a three-D printer, when scientists threw up a new idea - to print ... organs.
The idea of printing organs on a printer is caused by the problem of not having enough donor organs. The donation problem is a very painful problem for many people, whose life can end at any moment only because nature did not take care of creating spare (or at least paired organs) for many internal organs.
What is the development of technology for creating full-fledged organs printed on a printer is based on:
- To simulate a three-dimensional model of an organ (namely, a printer simulates a volumetric organ according to a given program), a biomaterial is needed - cultivated living cells of various types, which are laid out in layers by a bioprinter on a special surface, fastening them with a biopolymer.
- The bioprinter reproduces not just an organ, but the entire internal system of its functioning: blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, endocrine gland ducts and similar structures.
- Multiple types of cells present in a living organism (these are cells of various tissues - connective, adipose, muscle, organ parenchyma cells, artificially grown nerve cells) are used as a "biopowder".
- We have already learned how to create bone tissue, cartilage tissue, skin, parenchyma of the kidneys and liver, ovarian tissue, cerebral cortex tissue, thyroid tissue, and blood vessels on a bioprinter.
Today, there are still problems in the technological performance of an organ, since it is one thing to recreate an organ from a biomaterial, and quite another thing to make such an artificial bioconstruction fully function, that is, live its own life. The cellular material (the basis of the organ) must be nourished, and for this it is necessary to recreate a microscopic circulatory system capable of transporting nutrients into the cell.
The first bioprinter was created by the American company "ORGANOVO", but developments in this area continue, since learning to create full-fledged organs from biomaterial means solving many problems with the body's recovery after incurable diseases that spoil its vital structures.
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