Scientists use 3D printer to build liver

Scientists have succeeded in building a synthetic liver with the help of a 3D printer. A new printing mechanism, which is based on sugar, should ensure that transplants take place in the long term.

The system was designed by researchers at the American institute MIT and is intended to improve existing 3D printing systems. The scientists say they succeed in keeping the printed cells alive long enough to form tissues. Often, printed layers of cells don’t last long enough to actually form functioning tissues, the researchers said. The system would work well enough to grow organs that could eventually be used for transplants. However, it is likely that this will take a long time, because the organs made must first be tested in animals for a long time.

The method works by first printing a network of blood vessels and then surrounding it with liver cells. This creates a functioning liver tissue. Because tissues quickly grow too large to obtain nutrients and oxygen through diffusion, a functioning circulation is important and a stumbling block for many researchers who ‘culture’ organs.

The ‘framework’, in which the necessary cells for blood vessels are built in, is based on a printout of sugar molecules and, according to the scientists, offers a good basis for the construction of an organ. The sugar construction more or less acted as a kind of mold for the blood vessel cells. After the barrels were formed, the sugar could be washed away with water. The liver cells were then added, which could be immediately supplied with nutrients by an existing blood vessel system.

The technique was applied to the liver, but according to the scientists it is possible to apply the technique to other organs, such as the kidney. This organ is of great interest to scientists, because its relatively simple structure makes it easier to imitate than other body parts.