The Future of Hair: 3D-Bioprinting

The idea of combining hair follicles and 3D printing sounds like the start of a science fiction movie. The craziness of science fiction movies is well known. This experiment held by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute showed an abundance of advantages to their remarkable innovation. By using 3D- bioprinting it offers to build upon the current knowledge obtained from skin grafting. 

Now, we are at the point where skin grafts can't fully mimic human skin without the production of hair. In order to understand why scientists are doing this, it's important to highlight the benefits of hair follicles. Hair follicles are most known for their supportive role. They provide benefits such as hair growth, thermoregulation, and protection with a much needed thank you to our stem cells that aid the skin to heal. 

It's already hard to believe that 3d-bioprinting can be successfully done at a cellular level. The printers can effectively produce skin tissue with working blood cells, which is amazing. It’s almost impossible to comprehend. However, we are still at the start of this sci-fi movie. Scientists are consistently working in order to achieve an even bigger goal. Not only are they working on skin grafts with hair follicles that strangely mimic our skin, they also would like to explore the unknown treatments, hair rejuvenation, tropical drug testing, and dermatological testing that can further expand our current knowledge of the skin.

 This sounds great, but we are nowhere near achieving these goals. it does make sense; the skin is the largest organ of the human body, providing an extra layer of complexity.  The main issue currently is the 3D printed hair follicle lifespan only lasting up to three weeks. Therefore, research on expanding the lifespan of hair follicles is necessary and a top priority. The main objective is to allow the hair shaft and soon enough hair follicles to mature. Once accomplished, it could be safe to say life is a true sci-fi movie. Moreover, it’s wonderful to envision the plethora of innovations that this technology could open the door for. 

Links: 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/11/231115113440.htm

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8283073/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7Y_gf6DD5E

Mini Hearts and Livers Being 3D Printed

With a 3-D printer, Anthony Atala and his team at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine created mini organs, hearts and liver in this case.  The hearts were created by using human skin cells that was reprogrammed to act as heart cells and were clumped together in a cell culture. The printer then printed them into the desired shape and size, .25 millimeters.

The scaled down organs was developed to mimic the function of their life size counterparts and could eventually be used for testing new treatments and probe the effects of viruses and chemicals on human tissues.

This approach is being developed to replace animal testing due the cost of procuring, feeding and sheltering animals and animal testing doesn’t always produce the desired results that are applicable to humans. So if human organs and tissue could be reproduced cheaply in a lab it would be beneficial to drug companies and university for testing and teaching. 
I would enjoy working on the same experiment.  I think it would be great to make 3-D human body parts for research or transplants for amputees.  The further this experiment and technique gets the cheaper and more readily available this would be.  Schools could make perfect replications of the cells or organism that will be needed in a lab instead of keeping and maintaining lab animals. 

Original link:  https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn27383-mini-3d-printed-organs-mimic-beating-heart-and-liver/

Another link for a team at Princeton University who is showing off their 3-D printing ear: http://www.nature.com/news/the-printed-organs-coming-to-a-body-near-you-1.17320#gallery

3D-Printed Faces Reconstructed from Stray DNA

     Heather Dewey-Hagborg, an artist and programmer at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, wondered how much can be learned about a person from a simple sample of DNA, such as a wad of gum or a strand of hair. She believes that because DNA can reveal so much about a person, its presence being everywhere could possibly be a liability and endanger a persons privacy and security. 

     Dewey-Hagborg began collecting DNA samples on the streets of New York and took them to Genspace, a community biology lab. After analyzing the samples, she used a computer to predict and model the faces of those who left them behind. She then used a 3D printer to print out life-like faces. 

     Of course there is no way of knowing for sure if these faces portray actual people who left their DNA behind, but this experiment reveals the wealth of personal information that could be available to anyone from such simple actions. Because of this, there are products that contain "erasing agents" such as bleach, that can be bought and used to delete your DNA off any sample you might have left behind.

     This article is completely mind-blowing! To think a simple strand of someones hair could reveal so much, even being able to reconstruct their face is astonishing. I wonder if in the future everyone will carry around products that can erase their DNA off anything they might have or touched. This mindset of needing to keep ones DNA secretive, even off a piece of gum, can either be a great change for the future, or turn into something awful with paranoia running rampant. 

Mysteries of the human brain revealed as scientists release detailed 3D image of its genes and pathways

Due to recent research, scientist have now generated the first detailed pictures of the intricate events in the womb that result in the formation of the human brain. this study could be a breakthrough in understanding cognitive disorders developed before birth, such as autism to schizophrenia. This research has been developed by researchers at Allen Institution of Brain Study in Seattle, which was funded by Microsoft billionaire, Paul Allen. These researchers analysed the brains of four human people between 15 and 21 weeks. During these weeks, they build-ed up the first atlas of the developing brain based on the differences in gene activity. Senior scientists believe that these revolutionary new techniques for studying the brain could transform our knowledge of how the brain works, which could lead to radical new forms of prevention or treatment for the many psychological and developmental disorders that have so far defied medicine. This work is part of  a much wider body of research, which aims at a fundamental understanding of the brain. This research is already beginning to show that these  are enriched in the human frontal coretx, which is the part of the brain that is said to be responsible for conscious control over other parts of the brain. with this study/research in continue still, this could lead to unprecedented clues to he molecular underpinnings of what makes the human neocortex. I believe that this research is a great step into understanding where and what causes cognitive disorders developed before birth. Being able to blueprint the brain and generated the first detailed pictures of the intricate events in the womb is a huge step in brain studies. This could a giant step into possibly curing cognitive disorders, with due time. 

Original article: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/mysteries-of-the-human-brain-revealed-as-scientists-release-detailed-3d-image-of-its-genes-and-pathways-9233660.html

Secondary article: http://www.livescience.com/23313-human-brain-atlas-disease.html

Bioengineered ears win first place at World Technology Summit

A man named Lawrence Bonassar, pictured below, and his partner Jason Spector earned the first place title at a technology summit with their ground breaking 3D printed bio ears. These artificial ears combine 3D printing with injectable gels made of living cells that look and function like the real deal.Professor Bonassar and Professor Spector have been cooperatively working on bio body parts since 2007 and with their bioengineered ears taking the spotlight, the belief is that these ears can act as replacements for those who have lost their ears due to accidents or cancer at hospitals everywhere. Child ear deformity might fall into a thing of the past with this step towards the future.

 

These bio ears are just the first step in the production of other, arguably more valuable, body parts.What replaces a cancer ridden ear today has the potential to replace a cancer ridden heart in the future. It may take time and money, but with this technology, children and adults alike won't need to wait around for someone to donate the proper organ they need to live. In the future, we might just be able to grow them the perfect replacement part that is made of live cells and functions just as well as any natural organ. Genetic deformities will be a thing of the past. That is, as long as these replacements stay within an affordable budget for the average person.

Article: http://phys.org/news/2013-11-bioengineered-ears-world-technology-summit.html

Further Reading: http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-d-molds-bioengineered-ears-real.html#inlRlv