The Pros And Cons Of Organ Printing

Organ printing, AKA Bioprinting is a futuristic seeming process. It’s actually coming sooner than most think. This process was first thought of in the 1990’s. It is now becoming real, with “mini organs” being printed. Then, in about 10 years I believe it will be a common process used for implants, and even helping amputees. In the early 1990s 3D printing was an expensive process that only the biggest colleges and companies had. Better filaments were being created, and being used. It didn’t take scientists long to realize that maybe, if they had the right materials, they could pring body parts, such as organs. In 1999, at Wake Forest institute, this dream became a reality. They were able to print a synthetic scaffold of a human bladder, then

These Bio-Inks are a mixture of cells, matrixes, and nutrients all related to what is being printed. The organ transplant requires a, person who is willing to donate one of their organs, and they must be a match with the recipient, and many very heavy anti-rejection drugs. These drugs are needed to stop the receivers body from rejecting the new organ, because the cells are not the same between the two people. These drugs greatly increase the chances of infection. Using bioprinting will negate all these needs. Bioprinting takes away the need for a donor, because the organ is being printed by a machine. Also, this process does not need all the heavy anti-rejection drugs. This is because the organ is printed using the patient's own cells. So the other cells in the body will not try to reject the foreign organ. A typical kidney transplant costs upwards of 260,000 dollars, for the operation. The about 17,000 a year for the anti rejection drugs. Right now, the operation with bioprinting a kidney would cost around 280,000 dollars. The anti rejection drugs are needed for the rest of the patient's life, because the cells will always be different. This causes the bioprinting process to be cheaper, as long as the patient lives 2 more years after the operation. But bioprinting is new and will eventually become cheaper once, more efficient ways are

Firstly, cure for diabetes. A printer has been produced that prints cells of a functioning pancreas. These cells would be put on a 3d printed scaffold of a pancreas, and transplanted into the body. This will be a huge step in medical technology. Secondly, NASA is using bioprinting to potentially find a cure for cancer. They are bioprinting cancer cells and putting them in microgravity. This allows the cancer cells to stay three dimensional. This makes an identical structure to what is in the human body. Finally, I think bioprinting will lead to amputees getting limbs back. Once prints start to become larger, I think they will eventually be able to print skin, bones, veins, etc. and since these are made with the patient's cells, the body will heal itself around the limb, and become functional again. But I think that process will take quite a while to