Coming soon to a 3D printer near you: human tissue and organs

While the media focus on the possibility of 3D printing assault rifles, something far more meaningful has been going on in a number of university and commercial labs across the US: research to print human tissue and organs. Though printing every other widget under the sun is happening by leaps and bounds, getting viable organ tissue is moving in baby steps. One week ago, San Diego-based Organovo announced a new milestone in this field, using 3D printing technology to assemble functioning sections of human liver tissue, which are viable for testing drugs, for example.