How to 3D Print Organs (Bioprinting Explained)

3D Bioprinting has led to the first 3D printed organs in the past years. Bladders or tracheal splints have already been transplanted and techniques for 3D organ printing might soon lead to a variety of different organs. But how does 3D bioprinting work? And can we already commercially 3D print organs for transplantation?
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00:00-1:20 Intro
1:20-6:56 How can we Print Organs?
6:56-8:59 Challenges in Bioprinting
8:59-10:10 Organs Already Printed
Three dimensional or 3D bioprinting describes techniques through which try to build tissues or organs. We do that by using a bioprinter which applies cells layer by layer until we have a made a whole structure. 3D bioprinting contains three fundamental steps: design, bioprinting and postprocessing.
The first step is to know how our heart should look like.Here we use magnetic resonance imaging to generate a 3D model of our organ. Then, we use a bioprinter and bioink to print the organ. There are inject based, laser based and extrusion based printers. The second thing we need is bioink. Bioinks consist of custom formulations of biomaterials, additives, growth factors, hormones and cells.
In order to obtain the different cells we need to 3D print an organ, we need to cultivate pluripotent stem cells. Of course, we do not want to use embryonic stem cells but instead create induced pluripotent stem cells by adding the Yamanaka factors to fibroblasts. The induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) can then be converted into different cell types which can be used for the bioprinting process. In the end, we also need to let the cells become mature and control the safety of the 3D printed organ.
There are several issues which we have to address before we can 3D print full-fetched organs by bioprinting. We need to develop a new bioprinter which is fast and precise, while improving cell viability and decrease the workload. Although it is challenging some progresses have been made in 3D bioprinting. Skin grafts, bladders and a tiny heart have already been printed. A tracheal splint has also been bioprinted for transplantation.
For your research:
Murphy, Sean V., and Anthony Atala. "3D bioprinting of tissues and organs." Nature biotechnology 32, no. 8 (2014): 773-785.
Kwon, Seong Gyu, Yang Woo Kwon, Tae Wook Lee, Gyu Tae Park, and Jae Ho Kim. "Recent advances in stem cell therapeutics and tissue engineering strategies." Biomaterials research 22, no. 1 (2018): 1-8.
Correia Carreira, S., Begum, R., & Perriman, A. W. (2019). 3D Bioprinting: The Emergence of Programmable Biodesign. Advanced Healthcare Materials, 1900554. doi:10.1002/adhm.201900554
Images:
Some pictures were derived from Servier Medical Art by Servier. You can find over 3000 free medical images here: smart.servier.com/
Hamlet by Folger Shakespeare Library, CC BY-SA 4.0
Spine by Julia Jultz, CC BY-SA 2.0
Anthony Atala by Steve Jurvetson, CC BY 2.0
Heart Beat by Alith3204, CC BY-SA 4.0
Caffeine by Mstroeck, CC BY-SA 3.0
3D Printed Heart, CNN
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About Clemens Steinek:
CLEMENS STEINEK is a PhD student/youtuber (LifeLabLearner) who is currently conducting stem cell research in Germany.

[@Pedro-nt2ro]

This video actually gave me a thrill! Now I know where exactely I want to specialize in my Biology studies, thanks!

[@Sciencerely]

That's so great to hear! Best wishes for your career, the research is fascinating!

[@garret1930]

I'm surprised you didn't mention the bioprinter that's already in space and the possibility of using zero-g environments for organ printing in the future.

[@DJBenito304]

💯🎯

[@heyyo162]

gravity is not a significant force in the tissue microenvorinment. zero-g bioprinting is just a waste of time and money.

[@Sciencerely]

What do you think? Would you accept a 3D printed organ? I've already received a few questions for the first Q&A - if you have any other random science questions I should cover feel free to drop them here!

[@peterjf7723]

Yes of course if I was in need of an organ I would be happy to have a bio-printed replacement organ.

[@Djuntas]

Well, aint they already thinking pigs can be used? Anything to live :)

[@peterjf7723]

@@Djuntas There are a couple of different approaches to using porcine tissue. One is the genetically engineering of pigs so transplants would not be rejected. This would probably be easier with some tissues than others. The other idea is to use pig tissue as a template, strip it of cells so that only connective tissue remains, which could be repopulated with host cells.

[@om1gee]

Using pigs as bio-printer seems a bit old-school. And not vegan. :)

[@peterjf7723]

@@om1gee One possible problem is that of endogenous porcine retro-viruses being able to infect humans. However with that in mind a lab has used CRISPR-Cas 9 to remove porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVS) from pigs. That was 2017, so fairly recent.

[@monztermovies]

Great work!

[@MsEverAfterings]

I saw your comments on a video and came upon your channel. Glad that it happened!

[@Sciencerely]

Thank you! Comments like yours really mean a lot to me!

[@pitkamatka]

Hi! Thanks, this was a very informative video!

[@shannon222ish]

Cartilage can be bioprinted right? I keep hoping they can start 3D bioprinting discs for spines. That could be such a game changer for so many ppl as well. I'm just so grateful they're pushing forward with this it is amazing & will help to save so many lives. 💗🙏

[@onewa712]

Cartilage can indeed be bioprinted! Search for "meniscus bioprinted" or something like that, and you can find some scientific articles about it :D I used one for my thesis about a meniscus that was bioprinted and transplanted to a sheep, that then regenerated completly and did let the animal walk just fine, its aewsome

[@skeletopedia3122]

6:00 Fascinating. To clarify, are the stem cells dripped uniformly onto the scaffold? or are they placed in a way that replicates where stem cells are typically located in an embryological heart. i need to refresh my cardiac embryology, but let's say, the stem cells are concentrated more near the truncus arteriosus (not sure if this is true). Nice vid!

[@mohammedaslam2912]

I loved this topic :)

[@DogKacique]

That is a really good channel, I'm sure your country will grown very quickly

[@Sciencerely]

Thank you! Glad that you enjoy my videos!

[@Fstop313]

This topic is very important to me

[@LinkinGarden]

Subscribed after watching only this ome video! Can't wait for more great videos from you!

[@Sciencerely]

That's great to hear thank you! Happy that you found my channel!

[@Biomeducated]

Great topic you covered here! We will reach the point where we just have 'spare parts' in our 'garage' for our 'cars (=body)'. We'll still need good 'mechanics' though :D Also: YAY stem cells! ;)

[@Sciencerely]

That would be funny - or imagine an Amazon like delivery service where you send in a skin sample and they send an organ of your choice back! haha

[@Biomeducated]

@@Sciencerely probably delivered by drones ;) :D

[@sampleoffers1978]

Can they change the dna instructions now in a biomass with virus to convert it into needed organ? Maybe more smaller/micro organs do job of larger organ, anyway?

[@cicleylee2925]

You should a video on TechShot. They are doing bioprinting in space

[@kleo.eternal]

Interesting

[@altinhajdari2657]

cool

[@Julian-tf8nj]

I was hoping for much more detail....

[@raktimpurkayastha7129]

Sir, I've got wild dream of becoming an organ designer, but honestly, I'm lost on how to make it happen. Any chance you could share some insights or tips to help me figure things out? Your advice would mean a ton, sir and How can I give a direct approach to become a job ready Organ designer, is there no direct approach for becoming a job ready Organ designer, sir? Please make a detailed video on how to become an organ designer from scratch, and I also don't have any degree in science so how can I make that happen in real life, please make a video covering these things, please Sir 😟

[@Sciencerely]

Hi! Sorry for the delayed response! There are currently only research groups at universities and some startups/pharmaceutical companies working on creating "organs" in the lab. Right now, bioprinting and other approaches have still yet to be improved until real transplants can be made. If you are interested in this kind of research, I would suggest study Medicine/Biology/Biochemistry/Molecular biology (there is some form of scientific background needed to join a research group) - otherwise you can also study and become a technical assistant in a laboratory that works in this field. This might take a while but it is a really fascinating research field!

[@raktimpurkayastha7129]

@@Sciencerely Sir, my name is Raktim from India, Sir, I was a science student in class 12 and I had biology but after completing it, due to poor marks in the exam, I was forced to study commerce, it wasted one year, then I thought of studing computer applications so again I took admission for it, but it was full of maths and not much focus and attention was paid to programming and practicals, so again I wasted one year, and right now I am studying Arts, due to my poor marks of class 12th and wastage of 3 years, I went on depression very badly, and I am not getting any idea about what should I for a bright future? What will happen to me? Where will I go? These questions always comes to my mind and makes me feel more sad, if I had a chance of become a job ready "Organ designer" in the future, it was excellent. Whatever I told is true. Sir, can I have a scope for becoming a job ready Organ designer in the future ? Please tell sir what should I do, please

[@raktimpurkayastha7129]

@@Sciencerely sir, I am interested in Organ designer but not research, at present, is there no way of approach towards it, now look, normally it's what some says that degree in either biology, biochemistry or biotechnology is needed, but these are not the exact requirements I got from some sources, please give your opinions and Advice..

[@heyyo162]

@@raktimpurkayastha7129 There is no such thing as a profession named "Organ designer". Bioprinting is a highly experimental research topic and the results so far are extremely disappointing. We cannot routinely bioprint the most simple stuff (cartilage) for clinical use. We are not anywhere close to bioprinting complex organs (anything vascularised). Scientists battled for 20+ years trying to differentiate stem cells into insulin-producing beta-cells, and yet we do not have working protocols for doing so in a reliable manner. What you see in this video is nowhere near being applied to clinics. In fact, it is questionable if we would ever be able to bioprint a complex organ using these technologies.

[@lbk1744]

Doesnt induced stem cell have higher chance of turning into cancer cell ?

[@Sciencerely]

That's a great question. It's indeed possible that if iPSCs remain in a transplanted organ then they might cause teratomas which are very ugly tumor-like structures (I covered that issue in past episodes where I talked about generating iPSCs). So it's very important to establish safe protocols here. Some researchers are trying to circumvent this issue by creating a physical barrier between the iPSC-derived transplant and the donor. This strategy can become very useful if we try, for example, to cure type 1 diabetes. Here we could make iPSCs from a patient, convert them into beta cells put them into a small chip which is then transplanted. In theory, the cells would get nutrients from the bloodstream but would have no possibility in escaping the chip. A company called Viacyte is trying to do that but I'm not sure how successful they have been so far. This of course would only work for smaller tissues but let's see!

[@lbk1744]

@@Sciencerely wow this is amazing hope it work

[@lbk1744]

@@SimonWoodburyForget hmm i didnt think about that but yeah you got a point .

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

If there was a collagen based transparent gel with embedded enzymes in it so that when we focus laser light on a precise area where enzymes get activated by the light and makes the scaffold. Just saying. I'm far from being a researcher and not even interested in organ printing.

[@aoca3817]

If i became President ov Western Staraleah, one ov my first act's would b 2 allocate at least 5 billion dollar's 2 develop and install in all hospital's, 3D organic printing for all human bodee part's.

[@heyyo162]

The technology does not exist.

[@heyounicorns2]

ctrl+p file print: new_lungs.exe

[@huseyinyuksel9282]

Why is the use of embryonic stem cells not ethically correct ? There is also abortion. According to this approach, abortion should not be ethically correct either. I think that if abortion takes place, it can also be used for science.