New type of 3D printers in perspective will allow to print biological tissue.

According to a study published in Science , a group of scientists from the University of Oxford created a 3D printer that allows you to create the necessary structure from liquid droplets placed in oil. Due to the lipid layer, the drops do not mix with each other, but retain their shape.
The researchers managed to create a whole “network” of 35,000 drops, which, as stated, is similar in its elasticity to brain or adipose tissue and can maintain its state up to several weeks.

Why is this invention so interesting? First, the liquid inside the droplets can be replaced. Scientists managed to send an electrical signal through such a network using drops containing protein (green in the photo), while such drops remain isolated from the rest. Thus, the structure created in some way imitates the work of nerve cells.


Another experiment demonstrates how, thanks to specially selected content of drops and their combination, the created network “develops” (a kind of 4D print ) into a unique structure, which would not be possible to print on a regular 3D printer. This is due to the process of osmosis of water through the droplet membrane until equilibrium is established.

The creators of the technology note that as it develops, the printed networks can be integrated with living organisms and replace, for example, the missing tissue. But at the moment the method is completely synthetic - the networks, at a minimum, lack the genome and ability to replicate in order for the dreams of scientists to come true. “We are not trying to create materials that will repeat living tissues in everything, but structures that can perform their functions,” concluded Hagan Bayley, the project manager.

Via the verge