3DBio Therapeutics and the Future of 3D Printed Organs
In 2013 Wired published an exciting article: "Bioengineer: the heart is one of the easiest organs to bioprint, we'll do it in a decade". It's nearly a decade later, and we still don't have 3D printed hearts. But thanks to a small company called 3DBio Therapeutics, we do now have 3D printed ears. An ear implant made by 3DBio Therapeutics 3D printing body parts has long been a sci-fi dream of the medical field, and as far as dreams go, this one is for good reason. In the US, about 17 people die each day whilst waiting for an organ transplant. Even as people join the organ transplant list through death or donation, there is nevertheless an incredible shortage of organs, in particular of hearts, lungs and kidneys. Even organs that are received may not be a match for other reasons, for example incompatible blood type or simply being the wrong size for the patient's body shape. And once the organ transplant takes place there is still the possibility that the organ will be rejected by the body, which happens about 10-15% of the time. Hundreds of thousands of people spend years waiting for a transplant, and for many their transplant will come too late. But perhaps it doesn't have to be this way. What if instead of sitting on a waitlist for years you could instead receive a new organ in a few days that was genetically identical to the one that is failing. One that was exactly the right size, and that your body definitely wouldn't reject. Imagine if every hospital had a 3D bioprinter just as they have a MRI or CT machine that could create such organs in a matter of days. This would be an incredible leap in medicine, and would massively reduce human suffering. So today we will dive into understanding 3D bioprinting and where it might go in the future: What is 3D bioprinting and how does it work? Why did 3DBio Therapeutics start with an ear? What else is 3D bioprinting useful for? How close are we to 3D bioprinting full organs? Let's get to it. What is 3D…