If you watch the video below you can see some heart cells beating in a dish. Not only are they heart cells, they are heart cells created from skin cells using a 3D printer. Pretty impressive isn’t it. It is all a part of the Body on a chip project headed up by Anthony Atala at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. http://www.wakehealth.edu/News-Releases/2013/Wake_Forest_Baptist_Leads_$24_million_Project_to_Develop_%E2%80%9CBody_on_a_Chip%E2%80%9D.htm
The project which is microfluidically linking up miniature organs such as hearts, livers, blood vessels, and lungs and then testing new drug treatments and chemicals or studying the effects of viruses on them. To do away with animal testing and speed up the adoption of new medicine treatments. There are many teams working in this field. Organovo is 3D printing small strips of human liver. At the University of Louisville a team is hoping to build an entire human heart and has already begun printing valves and vasculature.
The ultimate aim of all this research is the creation of fully functioning organs from a patients own cells. This would decrease the wait for transplants and stop organ rejection overnight.
This is all worthy stuff I’m sure, but what failsafe are in place to ensure that we don’t end up with Frankensteins monster, or worse. War cyborgs made from human biological matter that can 3D print replacement parts when they are damaged on the battlefield in warfare. Or worse still humans that are forced to endlessly fight in wars as they can self replicate any damaged parts. Thus continuing never ending wars and suffering.
Ian2daY 