Researchers Aim to Print Human Skin

            Researchers from the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine are working on the development of special printers that would print human skin for soldiers on the battlefield, burn victims, etc. This project is getting $50 million for the Department of Defense and we are supposed to see results in around five years.

            The process works like this: they take a small sample of your skin and put in special solutions so that more skin cells are reproduced. Once that’s done, the skin cells are put in a special cartridge and then ‘printed’ on the patient. The printer is put above the wound and puts layers of skin cells on the wound, depending on the area, this process may take up to few hours. The researchers know they are facing a huge challenge but sound very confident and hope this could be a quick solution for the burn victim and soldiers who suffer on the battlefield. They are even hoping that in the future, they might be able to print human organs as well.

            To be honest, I am not really sure how I feel about this project. On one hand, I am amazed by the technology development and what we are able to do with it. I’m sure, if it works the way it’s planned, it will be a savior to many suffering people, who lost hope not only in rebuilding their bodies but also their lives. On the other hand, although, it sounds like a great solution to many problems, I’m having a really hard time picturing it. I’m sure there will be a lot of complications on the way, as there always are when transfusions and transplants are made. Moreover, what if there is a glitch and something prints wrong and mutates? Also, there is always a risk of the printers getting into wrong hands and people taking advantage of it i.e. selling skin cells or organs on the black market, what would make it worse than it already is. Innovations of that kind are great but always make me take a step back, because there are so many unpredictable situations that can come out of this. Soon enough, the science-fiction movies will start coming true and that doesn’t necessarily creates a better future for us.

Link : http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/innovation/02/19/bioprinting.wounded.soldiers/index.html#