Creating Organs Through 3-D Printing

According to organdonor.gov, there are 120,221 people waiting for an organ. What is someone didn't have to wait for someone else's organ, but could simply create another on his/her own? 3-D printing offers a new solution, creating tissues by printing living cells layer by layer into organs such as hearts or livers. Stem cells taken from a patient's fat or bone marrow can provide the 3D-printing material for making an organ that the body won't reject. There are several levels of complexity that come into play, such as blood vessels, functions, and interaction with other organs. Although 3-D printing organs is still far from reality, researchers are already starting to create tiny chunks of  organs. Even though whole organs are far from being achievable at this time, this technology and its potential can still be life-changing for patients.

Before finding and reading this article, I had no prior knowledge to what 3-D printing was. Not only was I surprised to learn about 3-D printing, but I was excited to see how this technology could possibly create organs and save many lives in the future. I think this is a great article to share, because this is something that us bioengineers may work on in our careers. Finding ways to heal our organs (or create them, for that matter) will always be an important part of the medical field. 

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/24/3d-printing-aims-to-deliver-organs-on-demand/