3D printing has impacted everything from spine care to orthotics. Now, two recent bioprinting breakthroughs are bringing the dream of 3D-printed organs — and their ethical implications — into sharper view.

 .

To some extent, bioprinting has what they call in Texas an “all hat, no cattle” problem. The process and its products both tend to grab the eye, but the practical applications have so far been limited. A couple of recent milestones, though, are helping change that. The twin achievements — a new bioprinting process that clears a longstanding structural hurdle, and the creation of a “mini-heart” — represent noteworthy steps toward the ultimate goal of 3D-printing organs for humans.

 .

“If you go on the Internet and see stuff about bioprinting, you’ll see things that look cool but almost never show anything with an actual function” said Adam Feinberg, a researcher at Carnegie Mellon University whose team developed a […]

Click here to view original web page at builtin.com