Organovo Has Its First Commercial 3D Bio-Printer

kkleiner writes "Organovo and strategic partner Invetech hope in 2010 to release a commercial version of their 3D organ printer capable of producing very basic tissues like blood vessels. While it is still limited to simple tissue structures (full organs are a long ways off), Organovo plans to deliver the printers to various research institutions interested in organ and tissue production. Working with these institutions, Organovo hopes to one day progress to creating a system that can print organs as easily as other 3D printers print plastic figurines."

I bet

[idontgno]

the ink will almost be as expensive as HP's.

Re:I bet

[unformed]

Yeah, they're going to charge an arm and a leg for this.

Re:

[unformed]

Although, I guess for Jews, they might just take a pound of flesh instead.

Re:

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:

[idontgno]

As far as I know, unsanctioned printing of your own currency is counterfeiting. It looks like the Secret Service will have to put its little bit of extra goodness into the printer's firmware [pcworld.com] now.

Re:

[skine]

Although, I guess for Jews, they might just take a pound of flesh instead.

No more, No less.

Re:

[plover]

What's worse will be the DRM scheme.

Re:

[jameskojiro]

You printed a replacement liver and you used alcohol on it, sorry it will now be taken away.....

Re:

[maxume]

It's okay, the drummers will set us free.

Re:

[eugene2k]

Organs aren't covered by copyright laws. Patent laws on the other hand do cover them...

Re:

[AmberBlackCat]

Yeah, they're going to charge an arm and a leg for this.

Just print them out.

Re:

[clang_jangle]

the ink will almost be as expensive as HP's.

Probably almost. But will there be generic budget-priced solutions?

Re:

[CannonballHead]

Yes, but they may not fit as well.

Re:

[unformed]

Yeah, Taiwanese organs.

Re:

[Demiansmark]

right now printer ink is a hell of a lot more expensive than human blood so it might still be a bit cheaper - http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~cook/movabletype/mlm/BloodInk.jpg [columbia.edu]

Re:

[jameskojiro]

Cool, so I can download a DRM free copy of the Necronomicon and print it out in Human blood!!!

Klatu Berata Nectu

Re:

[rdnetto]

You'd win that bet: http://damnprinter.com/wp-content/uploads/BloodInk_tn.jpg [damnprinter.com]

Re:

[NiteMair]

pcloadtissue, wtf does that mean?

Re:You don't want to know...

[palegray.net]

Sorry, I couldn't hear you... this blender is way too noisy. You mind popping that refill cap off and reloading the Epson? I'll go tell Mrs. Wilson a hawk just flew off with her cat.

The obvious market driver is...

[couchslug]

...porn. :)

Re:

[ArsonSmith]

You mean I could just download and print out a boob?

Will the miracles of the internet ever cease?

Re:

[clang_jangle]

See, I know now for sure that as a woman in IT I've been hanging around too many men for too long, because the first thing I thought about when I read "3D organ printer" was -- well, you know.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Dicks? That's natural, I believe.

Re:The obvious market driver is...

[idontgno]

the first thing I thought about when I read "3D organ printer" was -- well, you know.

Was it "I bet there'll be a run on legal-size* printer paper..."

*For those in countries other than that United States, please read that as "ISO B-4".

Thanks.

Think big!

[denzacar]

Now, I do assume that extra hands will not be available for quite some time but why a single boob? [youtube.com]

Re:

[ArsonSmith]

head-*BOOM*-

the option for two was just to much for me.

Fifth Element

[ichthus]

This, obviously, will remind several of us SciFi fans of the reconstruction scene in the Fifth Element -- which I am too lazy to track down and link right now, so I'll let some other person whore for the karma instead.

Re:Fifth Element

[el3mentary]

You mean this scene I assume. [youtube.com]

Re: Too Lazy!

[TaoPhoenix]

Mods, +6 Informative!
He just invented the vaccine for Citation Needed!!

Re:

[KnownIssues]

Dammit, you beat me to the reference. I thought the exact same thing. I remember when seeing that scene, thinking, that certainly looks cool, but there's no way it could work like that. After reading about this (admittedly still far from anything like that scene), I almost wonder if it's not that far off from possible.

5th Element - Fact not fiction?

[MrSenile]

Sounds a lot like that machine in 5th Element that recreated the entire body, bones and all, just from a genetic sequence marker left on a burned off hand.

Re:

[sznupi]

Well, not only body; it went also into "rubbish" territory by recreating the brain...

Re:5th Element - Fact not fiction?

[Zerth]

There was the assumption the extra strands of the genome stored the layout & weights of the brain's connections to encode her native language and motor skills instead of just the bootstrap that humans have.

She was still ignorant of current facts and English, until she speed-read the encyclopedia.

Re:

[sznupi]

She was ignorant of recent history and English because the background story depicted in the movie happened once every...10 000 years? (I don't remember exactly)

And I didn't see that assumption - they announced "WE HAVE A SURVIVOR!" just after finding the remains of arm; without any foreknowledge about her anatomy. Apparently such "survival" was obvious for them, also when applied to humans. Which don't have "in-arm backup of brain in advanced DNA" (really, how would that evolve / what's the point?)

Re:

[sznupi]

Relying on alien (human) technology to recreate the rest of the body. Technology that exists just now / is available only for a few individuals during this particular visit to Earth.

Useless.

Hey Organovo!

[Anonymous Coward]

Your epidermis is showing!

In Soviet Russia

[gregarican]

organs make printers...

3d Organ printer?

[Anonymous Coward]

3D Organ Printer?!

I'm waiting for my 3d xylophone printer!

Re:

[plover]

This brings new meaning to the phrase Organ Grinder.

Wonder if it will print out a monkey? Everybody likes monkeys.

Dead tree organs are so 90s

[iamacat]

I demand digital organs in a sleek package that looks good in starbucks, complete with DRM and remote kill capability to protect the consumers!

Re:

[dbcad7]

Make your payments, and you'll have no problems.. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1053424/ [imdb.com]

In related news...

[chill]

In related news, Hammond's stock dropped 17% today.

Re:

[MichaelSmith]

In related news, Hammond's stock dropped 17% today.

They just sell 4D organs.

What the f**k...

[mike260]

...does PCLOADVISCERA mean, dammit?

Re:

[locallyunscene]

Haha, wish I had mod points. Just thinking about a printer jam on one of these things turns my stomach a little.

Re:

[MichaelSmith]

Arthur C Clarke wrote a story about teleportation called Travel by Wire. He basically followed the development of TV and extended the idea into solid 3D objects. In the story people who had been transmitted when there was noise on the line came out looking like nothing on earth and very little on venus or mars.

Re:

[teknomage1]

I would've gone with PCLOADLIVER, but I think on saw that a few years ago last time slashdot talked about this technology.

Hackensack's Discount Kidney Wherehouse

[abbynormal brain]

For a fraction of the cost - we have your copy of a copy of a copy of a kidney!

Better than Weird Science

[Neutral_Observer]

Print your our hot babe!

Re:

[jameskojiro]

Yeah, print out a beautiful women who has no software in her brain so she will cry like a baby and crap her pants and you have to train her from scratch, really attractive there....

Re:

[MichaelSmith]

No, just give her memories from your Niece.

Re:

[cmiller173]

Yeah, the learning curve might be steep, but in the end she will be trained just like you want her to be.

Re:

[2names]

If it gets to the point where we can print out a person, will these "people" have rights?

Re:

[MichaelSmith]

I don't think anybody knows what will happen until we have real Artificial Persons walking around. We seem pretty willing to accept that Gorillas, Chimpanzees and Orangutans are animals with no rights.

Sadly I expect it will depend on what they look like.

Re:

[Thing 1]

Well, I just need to look in the mirror to see an Artificially Enhanced Person. (Take off my glasses, and I can't even see my face in the mirror...)

Re:

[dissy]

If it gets to the point where we can print out a person, will these "people" have rights?

If they can choose to pick up a weapon and fight back, then yes eventually they just might get rights.

Hmm...

[Locke2005]

Can it be used for plastic surgery? (Mmmm... breasts! (drool)) Seriously, wouldn't this be far preferable to plastic bags full of silicone gel or salt water?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Preferably women will stop butchering their tits just to look "better."

Re:Hmm...

[Locke2005]

Trust me, as long as they can snag a millionaire by bleaching their hair, bobbing their nose, and "enhancing" their breasts, women will continue to do so (and yes, the sister of one of my girlfriends did exactly that). If there was no demand, there would be no supply.

Re:

[Legion303]

Nonsense! What could be more sexy than rock-hard tits that don't move?

Waiter!

[2names]

I'd like four bottles of your finest whiskey and one new liver please.

I've Been Shot!

[eldavojohn]

Quick, somebody get me to a Kinkos!

The only thought I'm having...

[VanGarrett]

If, when this technology has become sufficiently advanced, will a heart that is produced be, in fact, a living organ? Is it enough to put all of the materials in the right place? It's not clear to me that a heart removed from a cadaver will serve to complete a heart transplant surgery. Just how well does this work?

Re:

[MozeeToby]

If, when this technology has become sufficiently advanced, will a heart that is produced be, in fact, a living organ?

Yes it will be living. Life is just a big, complex chemical reaction (well, system of interacting chemical reactions, but still). There is nothing mysterious or supernatural about something being alive or dead. Besides, they're building the tissues using living cells grown in culture; the printer just arranges them to form a tissue.

Re:

[genghisjahn]

"There is nothing mysterious or supernatural about something being alive or dead."
Your life is very different from mine.

Re:

[h4rr4r]

Yeah, he is a lot less deluded than you are.

Re:

[blackest_k]

http://www.uktransplant.org.uk/ukt/about_transplants/frequently_asked_questions_about_transplants/f_a_qs_about_kidney_transplantation.jsp [uktransplant.org.uk]

has some interesting answers about transplantation of kidneys it seems the ideal kidney is transplanted where the brain is dead but the heart is still beating. Kidneys can be taken after the heart has stopped beating but needs to be extracted pretty rapidly.

I understand that when a coronary artery is blocked (that is a heart attack) after 20 - 30 minutes the heart starts t

Heart valves

[tsa]

I hope it can print heart valves. I am not an expert, but those look simple and printed heart valves can help a lot of people.

Warranties? anyone?

[starbugs]

Could I get a liver with a two lifetime warranty?

I might need it.

ER LOAD LETTER

[Lemming Mark]

Nurse, get another ream of US Letter in Tray 2, stat!

Adds a whole new dimension

[Perp Atuitie]

to making an ass print with a copy machine.

INVEST NOW

[thelonious]

These guys will put fleshlight out of business!!

Expect heavy resistance ...

[xupere]

... from the hunchbacked lab assistant union. This technology could mean the death of the time honored skilled trade of mad science related grave robbery.

If you thought paper jams were bad...

[Curate]

Now you'll have to clean out organ jams.

It comes down to how good the scaffold is

[damn_registrars]

You need a good extracellular matrix (or as they say, "scaffold") to make good multicellular tissue or organ. Ideally, if the cells are correct for the application - and given the right stimuli - they will eventually make their own matrix for the application.

One thing they didn't mention in this writeup that many people could truly benefit from, though, is that the printer could potentially make better organs than the ones being replaced. Another poster here asked about heart valves - the printer could potentially print a heart with better valves than the problem heart (which could be more beneficial to the patient than replacing only the valves).

Re:

[tsotha]

Why wouldn't you just print the scaffold at the same time you're printing everything else? Seems like you could make it as complicated as necessary.

Good Game, Death

[Zaphod The 42nd]

Cheats Enabled

WARNING : Printer Cartridge Low

[Rollgunner]

Replace with new Stem Cell/Cartilage/Carbohydrate triple-pack to avoid service interruption...

grammar/usage issues: nigh uncountable

[cathector]

seriously, who wrote this ?
"Organovo and strategic partner Invetech hope in 2010 to release a commercial version of their 3D organ printer capable of producing very basic tissues like blood vessels."

This is bad news

[AP31R0N]

for the Repo Man.

First practical joke on this printer...

[marciot]

So, how long will it be before some wiseguy sends a phallus to the printer to piss someone off?

Simplify treatment of MS (multiple sclerosis)?

[fygment]

Could this simplify the proposed new treatment for MS [newstalk650.com]? Instead of "surgically opening up blocked veins", just construct an appropriate bypass.