Bioprinting is a hot topic in the scientific and medical world lately, and there are so many individuals proposing benefits, risks, and ethical issues with the new technology. We don’t have the time to sit and decide what is going to happen with these machines with the capability to prolong or save human life. The time for this technology is now, and we need to decide if benefits like getting organs to individuals who need them without donors and reducing organ trafficking is worth the ethical debate over liability and the debate over availability, and who should have access to these new organs. Bioprinting can help solve the problem of not having an adequate amount of organs for donating, which sounds like a brilliant idea that no one would oppose to, but individuals in many areas are in opposition, so is this technology as great as it seems? Or do the risks and ethical concerns outweigh the benefits?
Informational Articles:
http://www.invetech.com.au/portfolio/life-sciences/3d-bioprinter-world-first-print-human-tissue/
Bioprinters are incredibly complex, which is why it took nine months for Invetech and Organovo to develop one. The article takes readers through the process of the companies joining and creating the tissues and organs that are now possible to be constructed.
http://www.techrepublic.com/article/new-3d-bioprinter-to-reproduce-human-organs/
Bioprinters are becoming more advanced and better at being fast and efficient at printing organs. This article displays the new bioprinter BioAssembly Tool, or BAT, and the BioAssemblyBot, or BAB. These printers are highly advanced, and are bringing on a new age of bioprinting.
Informational Video:
http://www.techrepublic.com/videos/how-researchers-are-using-3d-bioprinting-to-make-a-human-heart/
This video shows how researchers are attempting to print a functioning human heart. They are currently using skin cells and turning them into heart cells, and then shaping the cells into the structure that they want.