Saturday 3 January 2015

will you be able to eat printed meat? printed blood vessel and organs-a breakthrough in medical field.

Imagine if you are eating meat which has been made from scratch - without slaughtering any animal. Will you be able to feel the taste of it?
Modern Meadow believes it can do just that - by making artificial raw meat using a 3D bioprinter.[1]
The Modern Meadow applies the latest advances in tissue engineering to develop novel biomaterials to address some of our most pressing global challenges. We develop cultured leather and meat products which require no animal slaughter and much lower inputs of land, water, energy and chemicals.[2]
For three-dimensional printing, solid objects are made from a digital model. It's also known as additive manufacturing: to make the structure tiny droplets are "printed" - layer by layer - via a carefully controlled inkjet nozzle.
The principle has been around for more than a decade, and is already used successfully to create jewellery, toys, furniture, cars, and even - most recently - parts of a gun.
Some researchers have also managed to print food like chocolate.
To bioengineer meat, the scientists first get stem cells or other specialised cells from an animal via a common procedure known as biopsy.
Stem cells are cells able to replicate themselves many times, and also can turn into other specialised cells. Once the cells multiplied to sufficient numbers, they are put into a bio-cartridge.
So instead of traditional ink or a material like plastic, the 3D printer cartridge contains something called bioink made of hundreds of thousands of live cells.
Once printed in the desired shape, the bioink particles naturally fuse to form living tissue.
This process of bioprinting biomaterials is similar to attempts to print artificial organs for transplants -the organovo
Although the actual process of making meat may be simpler, it will be challenging to produce such meat on an industrial scale, and persuade consumers to accept it.
So in the future, more cows may be able to roam the fields without having to fear the slaughterhouse.
This technology will be helpfull in famine countries.

ORGAN BIOPRINT
Oganovo is a company based in San Diego, California.
Organovo designs and creates multi-cellular, dynamic and functional human tissues for use in drug discovery and medical research. Our proprietary 3D bioprinting technology enables the creation of tissues that mimic key aspects of native tissues.
Organovo’s tissues are made available through testing services, customized projects, partnerships, and eventual therapeutic applications.
Their latest science invention is a technology (novogen) which allows living tissue cells to be assembled into patterns and complex structures, such as organs.
Organovo has partnered with other companies to develop a bio-printer.The device prints (places) human cells in a three-dimensional matrix to construct human tissue.
Currently, the bio-printer can grow blood vessels. It is anticipated that within five years the device will construct arteries and by 2020 sophisticated organs will be built by the device.
In 2010, Organovo successfully bioprinted functional blood vessels made from the cells of an individual person.
This is breakthrough in medical field,many diseases like vasicular diseases can be treated and cured.



REFERENCE :
http://m.bbc.com/news/technology-20972018
http://modernmeadow.com/
http://www.organovo.com/