Organovo is looking forward to human trials

Oct 27, 2014 15:48 GMT  ·  By

If you have any sort of interest in 3D bioprinting, then you probably heard about 3D printed livers at least once. While they can't be used for much besides drug testing, and they don't come in larger sizes than a grain of rice or two, they exist, which is all that matters.

Organovo doesn't agree with me on that though. In fact, the company is dead set on ensuring that this field of science advances as quickly as possible.

Organovo is researching a whole bunch of bioprinting actually, seeking to eventually make it possible to 3D print any part of the human body, or at least the tissues most likely to need replacement, like skin.

Since liver tissue can already be printed, the company believes that further refinement will follow a steady curve.

Thus, it is their opinion that implantable livers will be 3D printable four years from now. Even if some difficulties arise, or health regulation organizations prove skeptical, Organovo doesn't think that adoption of 3D printed liver implants will take more than six years, starting at the present time.

I'm not sure what to think about all this, save that I definitely believe it's possible. Then again, I think anything is possible, so that might not be saying much.