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World First: 3D-Printed Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Feb. 5, 2013 10:30pm Liz Klimas

Glenn Beck has spoken a lot of late about the future of 3D printing and its potential to, as futurist Ray Kurzweil puts it, lead us to the “Singularity” where people are augmenting their body with technology and computers that exceed human intelligence.

We’ve already seen 3D printers create everything from custom prosthetics to bones, but new research has created the first 3D-printed human embryonic stem cells.

Heriot Watt University Creates 3D Printed Embryonic Stem Cells

(Photo: Heriot-Watt University)

Scottish researchers at Heriot-Watt University in partnership with the stem cell company Roslin Cellab used the cells as “ink” and printed them in a pattern that allowed them to remain viable and pluripotent, which is type of cell that has the potential to differentiate into any other type of cell. The researchers believe is the first step to creating 3D-printed organs.

According to the university website, the team led by Dr. Will Shu developed a valve-based printing technique that allowed them to print the delicate cell cultures. Popular Science explained how this worked:

The team took stem cells from an embryonic kidney and from a well-studied embryonic cell line, and grew them in culture. They had to build a custom reservoir–let’s call it an inkwell–to safely house the delicate cells, and then they added some large-diameter nozzles. A pressurized air supply pumps the cells from the inkwell into the valves, which contain pressurized nozzles on the end. The team could control the amount of cells dispensed by changing any of the factors, including the pneumatic pressure, nozzle diameter or length of time the nozzle stayed open.

At first the researchers printed droplets, but ultimately, they were so precise that they made cell spheroids in a variety of shapes and sizes, like the university logo above. One interesting wrinkle: The cells also formed spheroids in the inkwells. More work needs to be done to explain that.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that these cells have been 3D printed. The technique will allow us to create more accurate human tissue models which are essential to in vitro drug development and toxicity-testing. Since the majority of drug discovery is targeting human disease, it makes sense to use human tissues,” Shu said, according to the university. “In the longer term, we envisage the technology being further developed to create viable 3D organs for medical implantation from a patient’s own cells, eliminating the need for organ donation, immune suppression and the problem of transplant rejection.”

The research published in the journal Biofabrication stated that 99 percent of the stem cells remained viable, suggesting the printing process did not harm them.

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Comments (35)

xendude
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 9:08pm
Technology just waiting for a Man of Action to move the human ra

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- Witness1974
  Posted on February 9, 2013 at 3:28pm
  The race is on: There is someone in the Pentagon right now asking, “How can we weaponize this?”
  
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NoMoMrNiceGuy
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 6:16pm
Yikes !

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judyaz
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 5:15pm
Are these cells alive?

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checkingbothsides
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 5:08pm
Pretty exciting stuff. Soon I think the argument over stem cells will be over as we can just build them from whatever organic material we have available. Growing a new Kidney from your own adult stem cells? That’s probably a decade or less off. And yes, I do think we’re ready for it.

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Melika
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 8:05am
Everybody, hold your horses and stop panicking. While a science article is of great interest to me, one posted by Liz with an obviously misleading headline, is not. They let their dumbest reporter post a science article, and she obviously doesn’t understand what she read – or she is purposefully misleading everyone.

They didn’t 3D print anything. All they did was develop a nozzle and spray strength that didn’t damage or kill the very delicate stem cells. The cells naturally form spheroid shapes in the liquid. The printing “dots” are akin to water droplets that contain the microscopic cells – they can make lots of pictures with just water, too. The breakthrough is in not damaging the delicate cells, NOT in organizing them in meaningful ways. The next step would be organizing them into an actual organ and we aren’t even close to that – that is called Beck Fantasy Science.

FYI: you can only get so many generations out of adult “stem” cells, you are unlimited in the embryonic. While I don’t support abortion as birth control, there are lots of “babies” that are not viable and naturally aborted by the female body all the time. It’s why women don’t like to announce their pregnancies until after the 1st trimester.

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- JR71
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 9:17pm
  I wonder if they can reproduce cells? people with parkinsons as I understand have cells that for some reason or other have stop making dopamean ? just a thought.
  
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- gridley1
  Posted on February 7, 2013 at 10:39am
  It actually is 3D printing, as described in the original Pop Sci article. “Printing droplets” is a first phase of the technology. They will eventually be able to print layers of “droplets” to form rudimentary tissues. I think they will need to eventually work out how to simultaneously print the cells and a supporting “scaffolding” material, probably using a protein similar to collagen. This will allow for building stable, complex shapes like hearts, kidneys, and pancreases.
  
  Also, you cannot get unlimited generations out of stem cells. All cells are limited in the number of times they can replicate by the length of their telomeres. Telomeres are chains of molecules at the end of the chromosomes which get shorter with each cell division. Once they get to a certain point, the cell no longer divides. This is one of the reasons we get physically “old”. There is some work being done to artificially lengthen telomeres using an enzyme called telomerase. If successful, this could theoretically be done for adult stem cells before they are used in vivo.
  
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Mr Sanders
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 6:19am
I say this in jest [ or not ] but coming soon….. 3D Printed Human.

I need a new body, erase all my bad memories [ which don't hamper me one bit ] and keep the good. I could call Ron K. to download my mind and impress it onto a new one? All in the comfort of my home office.

Oh boy, here’s a moral question, should we even try? Sadly, I’m sure someone out there is trying.

In cloning/printing humans, a copy of a copy, since the father & mother are scientists, do they become the owners or parents of their new found creation? Whould we create a slave race, right off-the-bat; Generation C or S? Would they be grown-up children? I have just a few thousand more questions……

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- mikem1969
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 10:17am
  Ah the wonderful things that can happen when man tries to play God. It does make you wonder, because human nature will come out and some evil, greedy sob will probably try something like that. Or the military will try to print soldiers that can’t refuse an illegal order. If the human mind can think it, they just might try it.
  
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- Bikkiboo
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 2:05pm
  This is another reason that this is probably the end times. Knowledge is increasing much too rapidly, and we don’t have the ethics to use it wisely. God will have to stop it before we destroy ourselves.
  
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BehindBlueEyes
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 6:11am
Does this mean we’re on the verge of being able to grow a new set of teeth for the third time?

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BigSky
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 5:54am
For me as a Christian, I find this unethical, because it encourages mankind to play God by providing yet another doorway to cloning species.

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- Northrockies
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 7:00am
  Bigsky, the thing about being able to play God is that they need to create the stem cells. In this cae they use existing cells in the ink wells to print new ones. Nothing is created, just reorganized. The article even says they cannot keep the cells from forming in the ink wells. Until man can create the elements without fission, create the tools without using anything God has given him, or decide which spirit enters which body and successfully complete the process, man is only using tools given him by the Creator.
  
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- BSdetector
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 7:10am
  “and God said let there be light.” Every time you turn on a light switch, you are playing god. Why is the line drawn here?
  If it ever does become possible to “print” a functioning human, which it might, I think it would be waaaay beyond our lifetimes and in the meantime, we can create so many wonderful things such as replacement organs or blood for transfusions, etc.
  
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- RogueRequest
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 7:11am
  I guess it’s just too damn bad that your morality doesn’t enter into the equation.
  
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- 00100111
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 2:00pm
  “Every time you turn on a light switch, you are playing god….”
  
  Not quite. When you toggle a light switch you are not creating light. You are closing a circuit allowing current to flow in to a light bulb, heat up an element which emits light as it heats up due to electron flow. You’re not creating light out of nothingness, you’re just completing a circuit. Lets not get ahead of ourselves or our importance.
  
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LoveBringsTruth
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:55am
This is the first step to 5th Element….

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- TRUTHandFREEDOM
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 4:28am
  Our grandkids will be little green men and flying UFOs (built Ford tough!)
  
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- 00100111
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 2:00pm
  Milla Jovovich?
  
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Canyouhearus
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:27am
This seems to be really exciting. ..but it reminds me of the book of Daniel and God telling him that knowledge would increase but to close up the book until the end. Many things we CAN do, but is it someplace we should go? Are there not some ethical questions here. Just seems to be something we ought not do… even if it has wonderful applications.

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- Stoic one
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 4:28am
  Let’s ask the person that needs a new arm, leg, kidney or heart. If we could make these from their own body tissues so many of the ethical issues that come from ‘donations’ are solved.
  We are stewards of this planet and our bodies, I know. Despite the political stuff going on, I believe we are becoming a wiser society. We do ask the ethical questions today, we did not in the past.
  
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thegreatcarnac
Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:07am
Good. We need all the working replacement parts we can get to keep mankind alive.

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The Third Archon
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 11:22pm
“WORLD FIRST: 3D-PRINTED HUMAN EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS”
The future, is now.

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- The_Cabrito_Goat
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 12:53pm
  Yes.
  
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- 00100111
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 2:02pm
  The future is always now.
  
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M13
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 11:10pm
If someone could 3-d print stupidity, I bet you we could build ourselves an idiot and name him Encinom.

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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 11:00pm
The team took stem cells from an embryonic kidney?

If a little dog that has a skull size half the palm of your hand, and can dream as a puppy after several weeks, what the heaven are you people doing even contemplating aborting babies?

1. DNA engineering will depend on a new era of ethics, because you will not be able to prosecute criminal wrong doing, as the technology would be too complex for the average jury to understand and enforce the laws? So what country on earth has a population without ethical problems?

Example: Proprietary formula “XYZ” destroys the pancreas causing diabetes, corporation “ABC” now sells you a “pancreas” from your own tissues, and you don’t own the organ, you own the license to have the organ, maintained by company “ABC”, assuming you have any disposable income?

2. Lead us to the “Singularity” where people are augmenting their body with technology and computers that exceed human intelligence? You mean destroy free will?

Any questions?

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- Witness1974
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 1:52am
  Embryonic stem cells are not necessary and should not be used. They can harvest adult stem cells. Why they didn’t is beyond me. Why smear such a wonderful discovery with unethical use of an embryo?
  
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DefyTYRANNY
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 10:47pm
Oh the no, they will be printing democratic voters soon!

Nevermind, they can just create those on paper, no 3D printer is necessary for that.

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- AbrahamsSheepdog
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 10:11am
  Darn and you were on something there, too. Where did we become something not human.
  
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SUNTZU
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 10:44pm
Cylons.

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AmericaMustBeFree
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 10:43pm
I don’t know if this is cool or not!

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- helmuit_7
  Posted on February 6, 2013 at 3:10am
  I’m not jumping for joy I can tell you that.
  
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DEFCON4
Posted on February 5, 2013 at 10:38pm
Saw the 3-D ‘action-figures’ on “Big-Band theory”….-bazinga…hilarious..Penny….

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