Researchers Have Successfully 3D-Printed A Miniature Liver That Is Functional

With a process that is similar to 3D printing, researchers can use cells and biomaterials to artificially create tissues. Scientists, through bioprinting can create a lot of things, from bones, skin to meat, and organoids. Researchers from Brazil have successfully bio-printed what is called mini-livers that are able to perform all the functions just like a normal liver.

The printed organoid can do a lot of things, from producing vital proteins, storing vitamins, to secreting bile as well as other functions of a liver. Researchers at the University of São Paulo’s Human Genome and Stem Cell Research Center only require 90 days to make the miniature liver.

In the study which can be found in the Biofabrication journal, the researchers wrote that in order to find a new method for printing organoids, they needed to use different bioengineering techniques. Normally, for bioprinting, bio-ink which is made up of cells, as well as other biomaterials, is used to layer-by-layer print tissues. The process is similar to 3D printing.

Rather than just cells, clumps of cells called spheroids were used in the bio-ink. Using spheroids considerably extended organoids’ life since they could prevent contact between cells from disappearing.

Researcher reprogrammed blood cells that they obtained from three participants to create induced pluripotent stem cells. They then transformed the stem cells into vascular cells, hepatocytes and mesenchymal cells which form the liver’s hepatic tissues. Researchers then mixed the spheroids which consist of these cells with a hydrogel-like fluid and created the bio-ink.

Mayana Zatz, HUG-CELL’s director explained: