euronews hi-tech – The computer printer at the heart of the matter – Video

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euronews hi-tech - The computer printer at the heart of the matter
http://www.euronews.com Scientists are taking the idea of 3D computer printing and catapulting it into the realms of something more suited to science fiction. The idea of printing a human heart, liver or kidney is becoming closer to reality every day. Several teams of researchers around the world are working on the process. And one company, Organovo from San Diego in California has taken on the challenge of using 3D printing technology to create human tissue. They work with one of the world #39;s first bio-printers. The NovoGen MMX is capable of reproducing human tissue in three dimensions. The idea is ultimately to print entire organs that can be transplanted. The company #39;s CEO, Keith Murphy, said: "It prints materials from two deposition heads, cells from one side and gel from the other, with plus or minus 20 microns precision. So you print cells and the cells join together in three dimensions to make one piece of tissue." Thirty or so engineers and biologists work on improving every aspect of the technique. They create what they call #39;bio-ink #39; from stem cells that have been grown on fatty tissue or bone marrow. They are further cultured in flasks, because the process needs several million of them to create just one millimetre of tissue. They print the cells and a fixing gel layer by layer to form a shape that is controlled by computer. After that nature takes over and the cells organise themselves into living tissue. In the lab they can print fragments of heart and lung tissue ...From:EuronewsViews:78 5ratingsTime:03:53More inShows

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euronews hi-tech - The computer printer at the heart of the matter - Video