News and Insights of 3D Printing and Manufacturing
A joint team consisting of Florida-based nScrypt, space company TechShot, Inc, the Geneva Foundation and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) has successfully conducted its first 3D bioprinting test aboard the International Space Station (ISS). In the experiment, ISS astronauts used nScypt’s 3D BioFabrication Facility (BFF) to 3D print a human knee meniscus as part of the 4D Bio3 Program.
For the first time in the world, Russian scientists from 3D Bioprinting Solutions (3dbio) were able to bioprint bone tissue in space by growing fragments of bone structure in zero-gravity conditions. During experiments on the ISS, tissue samples were made from calcium phosphate ceramics, which were populated with living cells. These sample are now currently being comprehensively studied on Earth. In the future, this technology will enable the creation of bone implants for transplantation to cosmonauts on long-range interplanetary expeditions.
It’s official, nScrypt’s BioFabrication Facility (BFF) bioprinter was launched into space yesterday aboard the SpaceX CRS-18 Cargo Mission. The bioprinting system is now on its way to the International Space Station (ISS), where it will ultimately be used to print adult human cells and adult tissue-derived proteins into tissue structures.
The very niche subsegment of 3D bioprinting in space has had a development that we’re excited to report: Swedish bioprinting company CELLINK recently announced that it sent 3D bioprinted stem cells into space. The initiative, brought to fruition through a partnership with scientists from Uppsala University, aims to accelerate the development of a 3D neural stem cell system in order to provide vital insight on how changes in gravity effect cellular properties.
While bioprinting technologies are gradually advancing here on Earth, the next giant leap in the technology’s evolution could come from beyond the stratosphere. The ability to bioprint tissues and cellular structures in space could result in more sophisticated structures, which could culture without the pull of gravity. There are already efforts underway to bring bioprinting to space—notably, Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions recently deployed the first bioprinter, the Organ.Aut, to the ISS.
Russian scientists, together with their colleagues from Israel and the United States, plan to send muscular tissue biomaterials to the International Space Station (ISS) in September for a bioprinting experiment. They will be using 3D Bio’s Organ-Aut bioprinter which was sent up to the ISS late last year.
Despite some rocky beginnings, Russia’s Organ.Aut 3D bioprinter successfully reached outer space earlier this week and is already being put to good use. According to Russian scientists, the zero-gravity bioprinter has already printed a mouse’s thyroid aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
It’s been a bit of a wild ride for Russian company 3D Bioprinting Solutions this past week, but things seems to be on the upswing now. Late last week, Sputnik News reported that the first 3D bioprinter bound for space was destroyed after the Soyuz spacecraft it was cargo on crashed during a liftoff malfunction. In the aftermath of the disappointing crash, 3D Bioprinting Solutions says it is now preparing to send a duplicate machine to the ISS.
Accessibility to 3D printing on the ISS has allowed astronauts to print custom plastic tools and parts that are needed to successfully achieve their mission. No need to come back to earth to fetch that tool, you can now print it at zero G with the 3D printer currently running on the ISS. Soon you will be able to bioprint too with new Allevi ZeroG extruder.