Explore the science of bioprinting, a type of 3D printing that uses bioink, a printable material that contains living cells.
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There are currently hundreds of thousands of people on transplant lists, waiting for critical organs like kidneys, hearts and livers that could save their lives. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough donor organs available to fill that demand. What if, instead of waiting, we could create new, customized organs from scratch? Taneka Jones explores bioprinting, a new branch of regenerative medicine.
Lesson by Taneka Jones, directed by Hype CG.
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There are currently hundreds of thousands of people on transplant lists, waiting for critical organs like kidneys, hearts and livers that could save their lives. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough donor organs available to fill that demand. What if, instead of waiting, we could create new, customized organs from scratch? Taneka Jones explores bioprinting, a new branch of regenerative medicine.
Lesson by Taneka Jones, directed by Hype CG.
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LearningTranscript
00:00There are currently hundreds of thousands of people on transplant lists,
00:12waiting for critical organs like kidneys, hearts, and livers that could save their lives.
00:18Unfortunately, there aren't nearly enough donor organs available to fill that demand.
00:24What if, instead of waiting, we could create brand new, customized organs from scratch?
00:31That's the idea behind bioprinting,
00:34a branch of regenerative medicine currently under development.
00:38We're not able to print complex organs just yet,
00:41but simpler tissues, including blood vessels and tubes responsible for nutrient and waste exchange,
00:47are already in our grasp.
00:50Bioprinting is a biological cousin of 3D printing,
00:54a technique that deposits layers of material on top of each other
00:57to construct a three-dimensional object, one slice at a time.
01:02Instead of starting with metal, plastic, or ceramic,
01:05a 3D printer for organs and tissues uses bioink,
01:10a printable material that contains living cells.
01:14The bulk of many bioinks are water-rich molecules called hydrogels.
01:19Printed into those are millions of living cells,
01:22as well as various chemicals that encourage cells to communicate and grow.
01:27Some bioinks include a single type of cell,
01:30while others combine several different kinds to produce more complex structures.
01:35Let's say you want to print a meniscus,
01:38which is a piece of cartilage in the knee
01:40that keeps the shin bone and thigh bone from grinding against each other.
01:44It's made up of cells called chondrocytes,
01:46and you'll need a healthy supply of them for your bioink.
01:50These cells can come from donors whose cell lines are replicated in a lab,
01:55or they might originate from a patient's own tissue
01:58to create a personalized meniscus less likely to be rejected by their body.
02:03There are several printing techniques,
02:05and the most popular is extrusion-based bioprinting.
02:09In this, bioink gets loaded into a printing chamber
02:13and pushed through a round nozzle attached to a printhead.
02:17It emerges from a nozzle that's rarely wider than 400 microns in diameter,
02:23and can produce a continuous filament roughly the thickness of a human fingernail.
02:29A computerized image or file guides the placement of the strands,
02:33either onto a flat surface or into a liquid bath
02:36that'll help hold the structure in place until it stabilizes.
02:40These printers are fast, producing the meniscus in about half an hour,
02:45one thin strand at a time.
02:47After printing, some bioinks will stiffen immediately.
02:51Others need UV light or an additional chemical or physical process
02:55to stabilize the structure.
02:57If the printing process is successful,
02:59the cells in the synthetic tissue will begin to behave
03:03the same way cells do in real tissue,
03:05signaling to each other, exchanging nutrients, and multiplying.
03:10We can already print relatively simple structures like this meniscus.
03:14Bioprinted bladders have also been successfully implanted,
03:17and printed tissue has promoted facial nerve regeneration in rats.
03:23Researchers have created lung tissue, skin, and cartilage,
03:27as well as miniature, semi-functional versions of kidneys, livers, and hearts.
03:33However, replicating the complex biochemical environment of a major organ
03:38is a steep challenge.
03:40Extrusion-based bioprinting may destroy a significant percentage of cells in the ink
03:45if the nozzle is too small, or if the printing pressure is too high.
03:50One of the most formidable challenges is how to supply oxygen and nutrients
03:55to all the cells in a full-size organ.
03:59That's why the greatest successes so far have been with structures that are flat or hollow,
04:04and why researchers are busy developing ways to incorporate blood vessels
04:09into bioprinted tissue.
04:11There's tremendous potential to use bioprinting to save lives
04:15and advance our understanding of how our organs function in the first place.
04:19And the technology opens up a dizzying array of possibilities,
04:23such as printing tissues with embedded electronics.
04:27Could we one day engineer organs that exceed current human capability,
04:31or give ourselves features like unburnable skin?
04:36How long might we extend human life by printing and replacing our organs?
04:42And exactly who and what will have access to this technology and its incredible output?
04:50For more mind-blowing medical advancements,
04:53check out this video on hacking human genes to fight cancer,
04:57or this video to see how doctors use radioactive drugs to detect diseases.
05:03and until then, descend INIGHTS.
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