Synopsis. In “Posthuman,” we ask some of the most important names in science to help us peer through and envision what the world of tomorrow looks like. From the ability to see through walls and heal ourselves with robotic immune systems, to the use of 3D printers to generate replacement organs, “Posthuman” encapsulates a buffer zone between what is here today, and what is just around the corner.

In our first segment, we spoke to Ali Khademhosseini, associate professor at Harvard-MIT, at the 2014 Blavatnik Awards. Khademhosseini is pioneering the push to develop 3D printed tissues and organs. His team was among the first to successfully 3D-print blood vessels. This video was first published to YouTube on 4 October 2014. (source)

Visit us at: http://www.fusion.net
Like us at: http://www.facebook.com/FusionNetwork
Follow us at: http://twitter.com/thisisfusion
View us: http://instagram.com/ThisIsFusion
Read more: http://thisisfusion.tumblr.com/

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpBy_T94TWw]

Synopsis. Scientists could be one step closer to creating organs for transplant using 3D printing technology. A group of researchers from South Carolina in the USA, together with their Chinese colleagues from Zhejiang University, have made headway in understanding how so-called biological “inks” behave as they are dispensed through the nozzle head of a 3-D printer. The printer drops the biological ink, composed of cells, in a precise way to build up the organ of choice. “The broad spectrum of what we’re doing is called biofabrication,” says Dr Michael Yost, who is heading the research. “Biofabrication just means using some basic techniques in engineering to create new tissues and tissue components,” he added. Scientists lower the bio-ink through a syringe into a Petri dish. The printer is equipped with UV rays to sterilise the cells, while two mounted lights hover above with electronic microscopes to allow a closer look at the cells. [More…]

This video was first published to YouTube on 5 September 2014.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMzfyGBfAck]

Synopsis. “Many of the technologies first fictionalized in Star Trek are now a reality. Using x-rays, scans, and a mixture of cells, scientists can actually print human tissue and organs.” This video was originally published to YouTube on 13 May 2013. (source)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LhcmMIza3-o]

Synopsis. KGAN/KFXA’s Sadie Hughes shares how the University of Iowa’s College of Engineering is working to create human organs by using a 3D bioprinter. This video was first published to YouTube on 8 March 2013. (source)

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRBa9YifVTY]

Synopsis. The University of Iowa Mechanical and Industrial Engineering Department is working on organ printing, where they use a 3D printer to print living structures with bio-ink. The goal is to eventually print a working organ that can be transplanted into a human. This project is supported in part by the Institute for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Iowa. This video was first published to YouTube on 20 February 2013.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nqw1yjyKEs]

Synopsis. Watch and see how tissues and organs, such as muscle and bladders, are custom-made to replace diseased or injured parts. Video first published to YouTube on 16 May 2008. (source)

Further Reading: From the 1 November 2007 article on the TIME website, “Things in Dr. Anthony Atala’s lab at Wake Forest University are not always what they seem. On one lab bench, surrounded by gutted printer cartridges, lie the inner workings of an inkjet printer. But this isn’t the scene of some document-printing job gone awry. Instead, the printer has been jury-rigged to handle something much more extraordinary than ink — it now sprays tiny living cells into the three-dimensional forms of human organs.” [More…]