Slashdot Mirror


First 3D Printed Liver Expected In 2014

Lucas123 writes "After 3D printing has produced ears, skin grafts and even retina cells that could be built up and eventually used to replace defective eye tissue, researchers expect to be able to produce the first functioning organ next year. The organ, a liver, would not be for the purpose of human implant — that will take years to complete clinical trials and pass FDA review. Instead, the liver would initially be for development and testing of pharmaceuticals. The field of 3D printing known as organs on a chip, will greatly increase the accuracy and speed of drug development and testing, researchers say. The company producing the liver, Organovo, has overcome a major stumbling block that faces the creation of any organ: printing the vascular system needed to provide it with life-sustaining oxygen and nutrients. Typically, 3D printed tissue dies in the petri dish before it can even be used because of that. 'We have achieved thicknesses of greater than 500 microns, and have maintained liver tissue in a fully functional state with native phenotypic behavior for at least 40 days,' said Mike Renard, Organovo's executive vice president of commercial operations."

67 comments

  1. 3D Printed Liver Expected In 2014 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It was expected in 2013 until Yang stopped the printer to make the whatever tube to save the kid.

    (No. I did not dare to post that ananonymously. I wouldn't hear the end of it.)

    1. Re:3D Printed Liver Expected In 2014 by rmdingler · · Score: 2

      Ah padawan, you appreciate your karma more if you gamble with it from time to time.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

  2. how soon before 3D printed clones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And then 100% unemployment because Clone Resources make much better slaves than Human Resources.

    CAPTCHA: affluent. You will not be affluent after the clones take your jobs.

    1. Re:how soon before 3D printed clones by Immerman · · Score: 1

      Nah man, they'll never catch on. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to make a clone? Humans though - they're practically free, you couldn't stop them from self-replicating if you tried. Sure they get a little uppity from time to time, start talking about ridiculous things like "rights" and "freedom", but threatening to take away their TV privileges will usually shut them right up. And if not... well they're cheap, toss 'em all into the protein resequencer and get a fresh batch.

      --
      --- Most topics have many sides worth arguing, allow me to take one opposite you.
  3. Good by Hamsterdan · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now, how long we /.ers can print a wife?

    --
    I've got better things to do tonight than die.
    1. Re:Good by Hamsterdan · · Score: 1, Funny

      GAAH! *until we*

      why you no edit /. ?

      --
      I've got better things to do tonight than die.
    2. Re:Good by Thanshin · · Score: 3, Informative

      Because Preview.

    3. Re:Good by Jawnn · · Score: 3, Funny

      Why would you print out the whole thing?

    4. Re:Good by marcello_dl · · Score: 2

      You can print it until the legs and half a brain are done, then wife will attempt to escape and seek divorce.
      Or maybe I misunderstood the question :)

      --
      ---- MISSING MISCELLANEOUS DATA SEGMENT --- [sigdash] trolololol
    5. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When other people refer to your real doll as your wife, they are just humoring you.

    6. Re:Good by misexistentialist · · Score: 2

      A warm slick liver is really all you need.

    7. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RTFA. There already printing breasts.

    8. Re:Good by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Now, how long we /.ers can print a wife?

      Why would you want one of those?? Hire a maid and find a "friend with benefits" and you don't have to put up with her nagging you and hiding your stuff ("well LOOK for it!") while spending your money. You can tinker with hardware and play video games and read and do anything you want.

      A wife? No thanks. Now, my question is, why am I being discriminated against just because I'm single?

    9. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A warm slick liver is really all you need.

      Someone would disagree with you:

      "To know death, Otto, you have to fuck life in the gall bladder!"

      -- Baron Frankenstein, in Andy Warhol's Frankenstein (aka Flesh for Frankenstein)

    10. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Why would you print out the whole thing?

      disgusting

    11. Re:Good by bkcallahan · · Score: 1

      You forgot to encase it in a wet shoebox.

  4. Fantastic! by adolf · · Score: 5, Funny

    3D printed livers?

    Bottoms up, mates!

    1. Re:Fantastic! by TubeSteak · · Score: 2

      A 500 micron thick liver isn't going to process much alcohol.
      You're going to have to switch to non-alcoholic beer.

      --
      [Fuck Beta]
      o0t!
    2. Re:Fantastic! by adolf · · Score: 2

      But imagine a Beowulf cluster of these things!

      (Also: Penis bird, Natalia Portman and hot grits. Get off my lawn: You're stepping on my liver.)

    3. Re:Fantastic! by 19thNervousBreakdown · · Score: 1

      You forgot this meme, you insensitive clod!

      --
      <xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
    4. Re:Fantastic! by mpe · · Score: 1

      A 500 micron thick liver isn't going to process much alcohol.Sounds even less impressive when you call it half a mm thick :) Of course this thin you'd never have anything which could be usefully transplanted into a human.

    5. Re:Fantastic! by Krishnoid · · Score: 2

      A 500 micron thick liver isn't going to process much alcohol.

      I suspect this individual would disagree, and would heartily welcome this scientific advance.

    6. Re:Fantastic! by LWATCDR · · Score: 1

      Not yet. but could it be used to help heal a damaged liver? And how long before they can print blood vessels?

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    7. Re:Fantastic! by MrLizard · · Score: 3, Informative

      It's possible each layer printed can seamlessly connect to the next layer, given appropriate nutrients/conditions. I believe (bio class was a long time ago; I think it was when they were still teaching about the humours) that cells can communicate chemically and tell other cells, "hey, join up here". If all the correct cell types are in the mix, each layer should link up to form the necessary structures, especially if the focus is replacing damaged portions of an organ and not building the whole thing as one big lump.

      It's too soon to say "Cirrhosis, shmirrohsis, I'll just buy a new liver at Wal-Mart[1]", but this step forward seems far from impractical.

      [1]More socially-conscious types may prefer to shop at neighborhood businesses that produce locally-sourced organs printed using fair labor practices. But you'll pay more, and they're not open at 2 AM when you really NEED a new liver.

  5. News of the World by oldhack · · Score: 1

    This site has turned into the successor to the News of the World.

    --
    Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
    1. Re:News of the World by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yes, the News of the World was renowned for its stories on 3D printing and cutting-edge medicine. Why, barely a day would go by without finding the words "native phenotypic behavior" on practically every page.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    2. Re:News of the World by oldhack · · Score: 1

      You outta pre-order their 3d-printed brains with express shipping.

      --
      Fuck systemd. Fuck Redhat. Fuck Soylent, too. Wait, scratch the last one.
    3. Re:News of the World by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It makes sense. After all, The Register has turned into The Sun.

    4. Re:News of the World by TheloniousToady · · Score: 1

      This site has turned into the successor to the News of the World.

      Coincidentally, putting that one together with the comment above about 3D-printing a wife yields a familiar lyric: "She's the kind of a girl that makes The News of the World / Yes, you could say she was attractively built".

      So, presumably, Pam will be printed with polythene.

    5. Re:News of the World by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1
      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  6. ...could be...eventually.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Let me know when they actually do it. I'll be excited then. I know it's "coming" but it's not news until you actually do it, Nobel Peace Prizes notwithstanding.

  7. nearly there. by clickclickdrone · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Just need to print the bacon and you'll have a fine meal in no time.

    --
    I want a list of atrocities done in your name - Recoil
  8. new /. layout sucks by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    mightily! what's going on here? it's like the dumbing down of the Internet, only worse!

  9. Not impressed. by Seumas · · Score: 1

    When you can make me a glass of chianti and a side of fava beans with it, I'll be impressed.

    1. Re:Not impressed. by bmimatt · · Score: 1

      You've confused liver with brainz, dr. Lecter.

    2. Re:Not impressed. by CubicleZombie · · Score: 1

      It was liver.

      --
      :wq
    3. Re:Not impressed. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He hasn't, but that's still better than having shit for brains like you.

    4. Re:Not impressed. by Seumas · · Score: 1

      No, you're thinking of Hannibal, in which there is a horrifying scene involving an alive and aware Ray Liotta watching a piece of his brain being cooked. A dozen years later and I still can't get that scene out of my head.

  10. free the innocent stem cells by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    they've been around as long as any of us & already know what to do/how to heal us. never a better time to consider ourselves in relation to momkind our spiritual centerpeace. another option is to stop poisoning us with 'progress' of prosperitarism so we don't need new livers etc... every few years.

    1. Re: free the innocent stem cells by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If only they could print a functional brain for you dear scarecrow...

  11. Um, so? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why all the hoopla about it being "3D printed"? Would anyone care if it was injection molded instead? The "3D printing" part is just the last final step that's really the lowest tech part of the whole thing. We're not 3D printing the actual cells, or 3D printing it in the body, or 3D printing the immunosuppressant drugs.

    1. Re:Um, so? by HiThere · · Score: 1

      Why would they need immunosuppressant drugs?

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  12. more like a 2D printed liver by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    at a thickness of 500 microns, that doesn't sound very 3D

  13. Finally! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This printer best be fast, been waiting for a long time. Cheers!

  14. Awesome by advance-software · · Score: 0

    Just gotta figure out how to print bacon then that's dinner sorted.

  15. What about skin? by peragrin · · Score: 2

    when will they come up with 3D printed skin for burn victims? Take a few skin cells clone them, and create huge sheets of skin for new grafts.

    --
    i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    1. Re:What about skin? by dbIII · · Score: 2

      There's been work on that.

    2. Re:What about skin? by Lairdykinsmcgee · · Score: 3, Informative

      Great video. Not exactly what you're speaking about, but quite similar in effect. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXO_ApjKPaI

  16. Livers? by Dereck1701 · · Score: 1

    Isn't the Liver one of the easiest organs to transplant and least difficult to acquire? You can get simply cut off a moderate part of a living donors liver and sew it into a recipient and both livers will grow back to normal size within weeks. It sounds like it will practically grow itself with the right mixture of nutrients. At least start off with something a little more difficult, like a thyroid gland or a segment of skin.

  17. Huge news by dbIII · · Score: 2

    The plan is to grow from people's own cells so they don't have to be on anti-immune drugs for the rest of their lives. Also you can live without a thyroid gland, not without a liver, and skin is being done by other teams.

    1. Re:Huge news by the+gnat · · Score: 2

      As an addendum to this, the anti-immune drugs themselves can kill the patient. "Least difficult to acquire" is also relative; the demand still exceeds the supply.

  18. In other news... something really working by advid.net · · Score: 1

    Allow me to remind that a few days ago we had ...

    Wold First In-Man Total Artificial Heart Implantation

    I'm not that much disapointed that my own submission didn't made the headlines on /. , but at least someone should have made it to the top with this information.

    1. Re:In other news... something really working by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It might have been voted up if you'd at least proofread the TITLE. You misspelled a five letter word.

  19. Cheers! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    n/t

  20. i'll drink to that :P by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    so now we can ruin our livers while printing a new one

  21. Skin grafts... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    They can take skin samples, grow the skin in a suspension gel, then literally spray healthy skin cells onto your body. The healthy cells grow into place, leaving barely a scar where you originally had horrifying burns. It's been done; we literally have skin-repairing spray guns, even if the technology is too experimental for widespread consumer use yet.

    Skin grafts. Heh.

    1. Re:Skin grafts... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, 3D printing itself is pretty old-fashioned, you can't expect these computer geeks to understand that biology already figured out these problems, we just need to understand how. In a few years we'll all be wondering what the fuss about 3D printing was for.

  22. Printable Pocket Pussies. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I can see this selling really good on Adam & Eve.

  23. And when is the 3D printed Onions coming? by wisnoskij · · Score: 2

    And when is the 3D printed Onions coming?

    --
    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
  24. So does this mean we can.... by 3seas · · Score: 2

    .... bring people back from death? Re: The Fifth Element.

    1. Re:So does this mean we can.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, they regenerated a complete body ( a lovely one, complete with dyed hair with natural roots--on her head, anyway ) from surviving tissue.

  25. This is the same technology by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi want to ban.

  26. The meaning of life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Can we have your liver?" Never mind.

  27. Darn it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was getting more and more excited I could start drinking in ernest again. Then the line about transplant not on the horizon.

    What a let down.

  28. Useless... by trailerparkcassanova · · Score: 1

    without 3D-printed onions.

  29. cowards, take up the challenge !! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I bet you they dont have the guts to go through with this.

    They may have to make them :D