In November, researchers from the University of
Wollongong in Australia announced a new bio-ink that is a
step toward really printing living human tissue on an inkjet
printer. It is like printing tissue dot-by-dot. A drop of bioink
contains 10,000 to 30,000 cells. The focus of much of
this research is the eventual production of tailored tissues
suitable for surgery, like living Band-Aids, which could be
printed on the inkjet.
However, it is still nearly impossible to effectively
replicate nature’s ingenious patterns on a home Office
accessory. Consider that the liver is a series of globules,
the kidney a set of pyramids. Those kinds of structures
demand 3D printers that can build them up, layer by
layer. At the moment, skin and other flat tissues are most
promising for the inkjet.