3D Printer Sculpts Human Stem Cells

The use of 3D printers to create models in plastic is no longer startlingly new—but a printer that can lay down human stem cells in a three-dimensional pattern is something else. According to Jesse Emspak, writing for Discovery News, that is what a team of researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, led by Will Shu, has done.

The printing of human skin and bone marrow cells had been done before, Emspak wrote, but no one before Shu had succeeded with the more delicate embryonic stem cells. Shu and his team succeeded by building a printer that forms the cells into tiny spheres. The printer also has specialized valves, which are adjustable and control the rate at which the cells are released. It is that controlled rate that allowed them to put the stem cells where they wanted to and kept them intact.

“The technique will allow us to create more accurate human tissue models which are essential to in vitro drug development and toxicity-testing. Since the majority of drug discovery is targeting human disease, it makes sense to use human tissues, ” Shu said in a press release.

An even more dramatic use of the printer would be to build organs for transplants or repair. Since the printer can put stem cells in a three-dimensional pattern, it could build a small “patch” for a heart or kidney that would be made from stem cells taken from the patient’s own body. Shu’s team worked in partnership with Roslin Cellab, a company that plans to commercialize the technology. The February 5 issue of the journal Biofabrication published a report on Shu’s work.