3D-printed sugar network to help grow artificial liver

bbc.co.uk

20 points·ColinWright··6 comments

Here is the press release from the original research team: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/penn-researchers-improve-...

And a video demonstrating the process: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VHFlwJQIkE

I hate news like this. You read it and for a brief moment you go 'awesome', then you remember that you read it on the bottom of hn, and not the front page of every newspaper because it isn't yet tested, etc and ready for use.

Hope it's tasty. The transplantation applications are amazing, of course, but the potential to 3d print a steak could have even further reaching implications.

I wonder what the limits are here in the long run.

Will we be able to print cooked steaks or will cooking still be required?

Will we be able to print a cooked steak, with off the shelf materials from the grocer for a reasonable price?

Will it be simple enough that I can press a button on my phone and have the steak ready by the time I arrive home from work?

Will I be able to order a pizza from a "designer" and pay for them to remotely print it to my house rather than deliver it?

You'll be able to get a new liver on demand! Jeez, forget about the steak!

Livers are also tasty. But I think the cooking process will be a separate step after the printing + growing.

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