3-D Printer Ping!
Posted on 04/03/2014 8:45:27 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The emerging process of 3-D printing, which uses computer-created digital models to create real-world objects, has produced everything from toys to jewelry to food.
Soon, however, 3-D printers may be spitting out something far more complex, and controversial: human organs.
For years now, medical researchers have been reproducing human cells in laboratories by hand to create blood vessels, urine tubes, skin tissue and other living body parts. But engineering full organs, with their complicated cell structures, is much more difficult.
Enter 3-D printers, which because of their precise process can reproduce the vascular systems required to make organs viable. Scientists are already using the machines to print tiny strips of organ tissue. And while printing whole human organs for surgical transplants is still years away, the technology is rapidly developing.
"The mechanical process isn't all that complicated. The tricky part is the materials, which are biological in nature," said Mike Titsch....
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
3D printing is going to revolutionize everything in our society!
Ping
3-D Printer Ping!
Did you get your printer yet?
It’s overdue. I’m going nuts waiting!
Oh the suspense. Let us know when it arrives. We’re anxiously awaiting too.
Will do.
Next: printing your SkyNet robot Overlords
I realize I’m late to the thread, but I really hope this gets going, and soon. One of the markets for human traffickers is in human organs. Not long ago there was an article about a group of kids that were discovered being smuggled into England for their organs, and one official said it was just the tip of the iceburg.
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