Posted on 02/09/2017 12:43:50 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
EVERY year about 120,000 organs, mostly kidneys, are transplanted from one human being to another. Sometimes the donor is a living volunteer. Usually, though, he or she is the victim of an accident, stroke, heart attack or similar sudden event that has terminated the life of an otherwise healthy individual. But a lack of suitable donors, particularly as cars get safer and first-aid becomes more effective, means the supply of such organs is limited. Many people therefore die waiting for a transplant. That has led researchers to study the question of how to build organs from scratch.
One promising approach is to print them. Lots of things are made these days by three-dimensional printing, and there seems no reason why body parts should not be among them. As yet, such “bioprinting” remains largely experimental. But bioprinted tissue is already being sold for drug testing, and the first transplantable tissues are expected to be ready for use in a few years’ time....
(Excerpt) Read more at economist.com ...
I’m 69 ... hurry up with the printed lung technology.
I second that. I miss my right lung, but not bad enough to take one from somebody else.
Sorry. I think the full capacity will be over-taxed printing backbones and gonads for congress.
The kidney demand is only going to go up as Baby Boomers start developing diabetes en mass.
Post of the day !
Aahooright! My manhood is too small...can I get a bigger one printed?
Well, this is nothing new. They’ve been talking about printing internal organs for many years.
I actually need something quite complicated, a liver.
I’m 76 and waiting for the printed HUNG technology. :-)
I think we mean “hung UP” technology .. eh?
This is excellent for the Next Vagina March!
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