| Title | Organovo Now Selling Tiny 3D-printed Human Livers | |
| Date | Friday November 21 2014, @04:39PM | |
| Author | LaminatorX | |
| Topic | ||
| from the world-of-tomorrow dept. | ||
When a medication enters the bloodstream, it ends up being concentrated in the liver – after all, one of the organ's main functions is to cleanse the blood. This means that if a drug is going to have an adverse effect on any part of the body, chances are it will be the liver. It would seem to follow, therefore, that if a pharmaceutical company wanted to test the safety of its products, it would be nice to have some miniature human livers on which to experiment – which is just what San Diego-based biotech firm Organovo ( http://ir.organovo.com/news/press-releases/press-releases-details/2014/Organovo-Announces-Commercial-Release-of-the-exVive3D-Human-Liver-Tissue/default.aspx ) is about to start selling.
Known as exVive3D, the three-dimensional liver models measure just a few millimeters across, and are created using a 3D bioprinter. The device incorporates two print heads, one of which deposits a support matrix, and the other of which precisely places human liver cells in it.
http://www.gizmag.com/organovo-exvive3d-liver-models/34843/
[Additional Coverage]: http://www.popsci.com/3-d-printed-pencil-tip-size-livers-go-sale
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printed from SoylentNews, Organovo Now Selling Tiny 3D-printed Human Livers on 2024-04-24 15:07:58