“The future is here,” one shopper remarked to another at a Tel Aviv market after watching the TV report that Israeli scientists unveiled a 3D print of a heart with human tissue and vessel. Calling it a first and a “major medical breakthrough” that advances possibilities for transplants, scientists hope one day to be able to produce hearts suitable for transplant into humans as well as patches to regenerate defective hearts.
The heart produced by researchers at Tel Aviv University is about the size of a rabbit’s. It marked the first time anyone anywhere has successfully engineered and printed an entire heart replete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles and chambers, reports The Times of Israel (April 19, 2019). The researchers plan to transplant them into animal models in about a year. “Maybe, in 10 years, there will be organ printers in the finest hospitals around the world, and these procedures will be conducted routinely,” said the project leader.
Their work involved taking a biopsy of fatty tissue from patients that was used in the development of the “ink” for the 3D print. Using the patient’s own tissue was important to eliminate the risk of an implant provoking an immune response and being rejected. Challenges that remain include how to expand the cells to have enough tissue to recreate a human-sized heart.
Current 3D printers are also limited by the size of their resolution and another challenge will be figuring out how to print all small blood vessels. But while the current 3D print was a primitive one, larger human hearts require the same technology. 3D printing has opened up possibilities in numerous fields, provoking both promise and controversy.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Name five other major breakthroughs in technology out of Israel.
- Have other body parts been “printed”?