Scientists have printed a living heart made of human tissue | Chronic

Israeli researchers at the University of Tel Aviv have created a living heart using human tissue and a 3D printer, a progress that, according to the study center, opens up avenues for future transplants. "This is the first time a heart is made with a 3D printer with human tissue from a patient", he explained Tal Dvir, director of the investigation.

The heart "It's complete, alive and thrilling " and it was done with "cells and biomaterials that come from the patient himself. We perform a small biopsy of the patient's adipose tissue, remove all cells and separate them from collagen and other biomaterials, reprogram them into stem cells and then differentiate them into heart cells and blood vessel cells.Explained the scientist.

Then, the biomaterials are treated "
to convert them into bio-ink, which will allow printing with cells"

The result, a heart of about 3 centimeters, equivalent to the size of a rat or a rabbit, "is still very basic," says the teacher, for whom "the next step is to ripen that heart so that it can pump"

In addition, Dvir considers that: "The cells can be contracted, but the whole heart does not pump."to realize an organ that can be transplanted to a human being.

I also read: Mechanical hand for boy without fingers

"The next challenge is to ripen these cells and help them communicate with each other, so that they contract together, we have to teach the cells to behave well and then we will have a another challenge: developing a bigger heart, with more cells We need to discover how to create enough cells to produce a human heart"said the researcher.

The next step, according to the researchers, is to program hearts to work like those of humans. For this, the first transplants will be performed on animals. "In ten years, there will be organ impressions in the best hospitals in the world and these procedures will be done routinely ", Dvir predicts.

The research was published Monday in the international journal Advanced Science, "paves the way for future medicine, in which patients will not have to wait for a transplant or take medication to avoid rejection. The necessary organs will be printed, totally personalized for each patient", says the university.