Organovo managed to “print” liver samples that function within 40 days

Of course, it’s too early to talk about printing a whole liver as an organ ready for transplantation. But scientists and engineers are getting closer to solving this problem. For example, the startup Organovo, which deals with the solution of such issues, was able to show an excellent result: the samples “printed” with the help of a 3D bio-printer of the liver functioned normally for 40 days.

At the same time, these samples not only lived, but also showed a standard reaction for the liver to various kinds of harmful substances (harmful to the human body). It is worth noting that the same company in April reported on "printed" liver samples, which could function for five days. As you can see, in less than six months Organovo specialists have achieved impressive progress.
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By the way, now the main problem that leads to the current inability to print the whole liver is the blood vessels penetrating this organ. Of course, Organovo learned how to print samples of the liver (from living cells, layering them on each other), but no one can print blood vessels, capillaries, yet.

Nevertheless, experts are trying to overcome this problem, so there is hope for a quick solution. Organovo plans to use its liver samples in the 3D Human Liver Project next year. This project involves the creation of parts of human organs, which will be tested on the impact of a medical drug. The results of such tests should be, according to experts, much more reliable than tests carried out on animals.



Well, for now you should not drink everything that burns - in the next five years it is unlikely to learn how to restore the entire liver :)

Via dvice