# How long before we have ‪organ printing or stem cells ‬to replace body organs? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841 "2017-08-17T01:11:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/1 "2017-08-17T01:11:27Z")
Many people go on an very long waiting list for organ transplant!! yes a long waiting for right donor!! Many people die because of the long waiting list. How long before we start to see ‪organ printing or stem cells ‬start to come out in hospitals? 4 years from now or 8 years from now? Or 10 years from now? If I’m not mistaken one of big problems now with ‪organ printing‬ is getting the organ to last. Where the big problem is printed organs don’t last more than a year because of the complexity. But I hear organ printing and stem cells‬ is getting better every year. So how long before ‪organ printing or stem cells ‬start to come out in hospitals? 4 years from now, 8 years from now or 10 years from now? Do they still have lots and lots of major hurdles to overcome? ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/2 "2017-08-17T01:15:15Z")
You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don’t wanna know about it, believe me. I’ll get you a toe by this afternoon–with nail polish. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/3 "2017-08-17T01:20:58Z")
It’s going to depend on the organ. Livers, for instance, are a lot easier than lungs. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/4 "2017-08-17T01:40:01Z")
> [@sweat209](#): > > …If I’m not mistaken one of big problems now with ‪organ printing‬ is getting the organ to last. > > Where the big problem is printed organs don’t last more than a year because of the complexity. > > But I hear organ printing and stem cells‬ is getting better every year… Cite, please? I have no idea what you’re talking about here. Printing a prosthetic organ to fulfill a mechanical function, sure. But printing is surely the wrong technology if you want living tissue. Are you talking about growing organs _in vitro_? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/5 "2017-08-17T02:25:06Z")
It was my understanding that making blood vessels is the bottleneck right now preventing them from making working, full size organs. However I haven’t followed the field in 5+ years, who knows if they’ve solved that and run into another problem. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/6 "2017-08-17T05:31:14Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Cite, please? I have no idea what you’re talking about here. Printing a prosthetic organ to fulfill a mechanical function, sure. But printing is surely the wrong technology if you want living tissue. Are you talking about growing organs _in vitro_? I can understand a Joe Schmoe not following the news. But it never fails to amaze me how so many Dopers–people who are otherwise intelligent and knowledgeable–are so utterly ignorant of current events. > [@](#): > > A researcher named Young-Joon Seol met me at the door to a room marked “Bioprinting.” Young-Joon, tousled-haired and wearing plastic-framed eyeglasses, grew up in South Korea and trained in mechanical engineering at a university in Pohang. At Wake Forest, he is part of a group that works with the lab’s custom-built bioprinters, powerful machines that operate in much the same way as standard 3-D printers: An object is scanned or designed using modeling software. That data is then sent to the printer, which uses syringes to lay down successive coats of matter until a three-dimensional object emerges. Traditional 3-D printers tend to work in plastics or wax. “What’s different here,” Young-Joon said, nudging his eyeglasses up his nose, “is that we have the capability to print something that’s alive.” > **[Soon, Your Doctor Could Print a Human Organ on Demand](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/soon-doctor-print-human-organ-on-demand-180954951/)** > > At a laboratory in North Carolina, scientists are working furiously to create a future in which replacement organs come from a machine > [@](#): > > In a study published by Nature Biotechnology, Atala and a few other Wake Forest researchers admitted that cartilage, bone and muscle tissue printed on the ITOP had been successfully implanted in rodents. After monitoring the rodents for months, they noticed that the tissue had developed a system of blood vessels and nerves. The results pleasantly confirmed all their hard work. [https://www.circa.com/story/2017/02/03/whoa/could-westworld-ever-be-a-reality-this-doctor-is-already-3d-printing-tissues-and-organs](https://www.circa.com/story/2017/02/03/whoa/could-westworld-ever-be-a-reality-this-doctor-is-already-3d-printing-tissues-and-organs) > [@](#): > > Spanish scientists from Madrid have published research describing new hardware that’s capable of printing functional human skin. The device creates the individual layers of skin, such as the dermis and epidermis, one atop the other. It does that by depositing plasma containing skin cells into precise geometries that allow the cells to flourish. > **[3-D-Printed Skin Leads the Way Toward Artificial Organs](https://www.technologyreview.com/2017/01/26/106642/3-d-printed-skin-leads-the-way-toward-artificial-organs/)** > > Researchers claim that additive manufacturing can now produce functional skin, and the first internal organs may be ready within six years. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/7 "2017-08-17T16:22:05Z")
For the past five years I’ve been hearing printing kidneys was “just around the corner”, along with mechanical kidneys are “just waiting for testing”. I’m not holding my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/8 "2017-08-17T16:45:33Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > For the past five years I’ve been hearing printing kidneys was “just around the corner”, along with mechanical kidneys are “just waiting for testing”. I’m not holding my breath. Nobody’s going to be printing [this](https://media1.britannica.com/eb-media/23/99423-004-BB1F574D.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2017, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/9 "2017-08-17T18:06:13Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > It was my understanding that making blood vessels is the bottleneck right now preventing them from making working, full size organs. > > However I haven’t followed the field in 5+ years, who knows if they’ve solved that and run into another problem. My daughter did a high school biology paper this past school year about 3D printed organs. One of the topics she came across had to do with exactly that. It’s not just the technology to print a working organ, but the technology is needed to be able to sustain them with an intricate network of blood vessels. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/10 "2017-08-19T11:18:01Z")
I can’t forsee it happening any time in the next few decades, especially in the U.S. due to obvious reasons. Even if they somehow figure a way to make a lattice or microscopic prefab structure which blood vessels could grow in the nominal way, there are still going to be errors and many problems along the way. Think of it in the same vein (heh) of computer components or car parts, even if a viable way is discovered, the cost, the liability and the inevitable glitches, malfunctions and “manufacturer defects” are going to be another humongous hurdle to overcome. IMHO, I can see ‘shell’ animals/humans being created with altered DNA, to create organs a semi-natural way that can be harvested and transplanted than organs printed. Even if that is successful and said 'shell’s were purely biologic factories (no brain, etc.), there will be people vehemently against it for ethical, moral, religious and whatever else reasons. Not trying to be pessimistic, but realistic. It’s just not going to happen. Fringe theory: If all of those things are overcome, with the limited resources on the planet, there may also be people against doing it because it will increase longevity and population and reduces available resources for all. So many things are in the way, technologically and emotionally (why else would some inevitably be against it?) that it will just not happen any time soon. ---
**Author:** ![anomalous1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e56c9b/32.png) [@anomalous1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anomalous1)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/11 "2017-08-19T11:22:34Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s going to depend on the organ. Livers, for instance, are a lot easier than lungs. Definitely! Some scientists (I believe in Europe) have even created full livers by transplanting cells into a host’s…wait for it… LEG. I believe in the thigh, behind the knee or something. I can’t place the cite right now, but since your google-fu is superior to mine as evidenced in the past, I’m sure you can find it. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/12 "2017-08-19T18:37:26Z")
I have been reading about breeding pigs to produce human compatible organs. How they intend to fight rejection is not clear, though. Maybe by having some analog of type O negative blood. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2017, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/13 "2017-08-19T19:25:53Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I have been reading about breeding pigs to produce human compatible organs. How they intend to fight rejection is not clear, though. Maybe by having some analog of type O negative blood. I think the thing holding back that research is more ethical than practical. In order to make it human compatible, it has to contain human DNA, and if it contains human DNA, that opens up a bunch of ethical issues. Personally I’m on the side that as long as the brain has no structures that are unique to humans, then I have no problem treating it as any other animal, but it is not exactly a bright line, and it is not one that everyone agrees on. The easiest and lowest hanging fruit for that sort of thing, IMHO, would be blood donation. If you can make a pig have O negative blood that is compatible with humans, then you have probably just about ended the need for blood drives. The next step would be to have harvestable organs that can be transplanted into people. Only downside is that you may look at bacon differently if you have a pig’s heart pushing your blood around. ETA: on the plus side, maybe every transplant comes with a free pork dinner. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/14 "2017-08-20T20:38:46Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Cite, please? I have no idea what you’re talking about here. Printing a prosthetic organ to fulfill a mechanical function, sure. But printing is surely the wrong technology if you want living tissue. Are you talking about growing organs _in vitro_? 3D printing allows for the layer-by-layer construction of a particular organ structure to form a cell scaffold. This can be followed by the process of cell seeding in which cells of interest are pipetted directly onto the scaffold structure. Additionally the process of integrating cells into the printable material itself instead of performing seeding afterwards. ---
**Author:** ![race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c4cdca/32.png) [@race\_to\_the\_bottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/race_to_the_bottom)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2017, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/15 "2017-08-21T01:08:56Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I have been reading about breeding pigs to produce human compatible organs. How they intend to fight rejection is not clear, though. Maybe by having some analog of type O negative blood. I think this is a [promising approach](https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/08/pig-organs-for-humans/536307/). ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2017, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/16 "2017-08-23T19:39:20Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Cite, please? I have no idea what you’re talking about here. Printing a prosthetic organ to fulfill a mechanical function, sure. But printing is surely the wrong technology if you want living tissue. Are you talking about growing organs _in vitro_? Modified inkjet printers have been used to produce three-dimensional biological tissue. Printer cartridges are filled with a suspension of living cells and a smart gel used for providing structure. Alternating patterns of the smart gel and living cells are printed using a standard print nozzle, with cells eventually fusing together to form tissue. When completed gel is cooled and washed away, leaving behind only live cells printing human organs > **[Printing a human kidney](https://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney)** > > (NOTE: This talk was given in 2011, and this field of science has developed quickly since then. Read "Corrections & Updates" below for more details.) Surgeon Anthony Atala demonstrates an early-stage experiment that could someday solve the... \*\* ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/17 "2017-08-27T08:28:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > It’s going to depend on the organ. Livers, for instance, are a lot easier than lungs. Seeing that they’ve already grown viable [bladders](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8939-bio-engineered-bladders-successful-in-patients/) in vivo, I would think that a printed bladder will be one of the first. I sure could use a larger bladder, since I’m an old fart and I have to wake up to go take a pee way too often. ---
**Author:** ![sweat209](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@sweat209](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweat209)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/18 "2017-08-29T20:57:52Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > Seeing that they’ve already grown viable [bladders](https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn8939-bio-engineered-bladders-successful-in-patients/) in vivo, I would think that a printed bladder will be one of the first. I sure could use a larger bladder, since I’m an old fart and I have to wake up to go take a pee way too often. May be better question will be what organs you see possible in 10 to 15 years from now? What organs would be harder to do being more likely 20 years out or more? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2017, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/19 "2017-08-29T21:19:11Z")
My company does research on this and we believe that artificial organs are about 5-7 years away from mainstream commercialization. And, yes, this depends upon the organ. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841/20 "2017-08-30T12:53:11Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Cite, please? I have no idea what you’re talking about here. Printing a prosthetic organ to fulfill a mechanical function, sure. But printing is surely the wrong technology if you want living tissue. Are you talking about growing organs _in vitro_? I believe some groups have taken a mixed approach: 3d print a scaffold out of extracellular matrix proteins, add relevant growth factors, and then seed it with appropriate types of stem cells. As long as the scaffold provides basic cues for organization (epithelial layer goes here, mesynchyme goes there…) most of the microscopic structure arises from self-organizing properties of the cells. I’m most familiar with how this works for bone healing. One of the current treatments basically implants an absorbable collagen sponge (aka a lump of gelatin) filled with bone morphogenic proteins, as an alternative for bone grafts. That attracts migration of osteoblasts and chondrocytes from a nearby broken bone, as well as differentiation of muscle precursor cells into chondrocytes. Once there, the cells start forming new cartilage then bone. These implants are typically cut to shape by a surgeon, since finely detailed structures aren’t necessary for most broken bones. However, I have heard of 3d printed variations that would be suitable for, say, delicate bones in the face and sinuses. I’ve even heard of some 3d printing approaches that try to better replicate endogenous cell signaling, even by including be bone stem cells in the printing filament. > [@JohnT](#): > > My company does research on this and we believe that artificial organs are about 5-7 years away from mainstream commercialization. > > And, yes, this depends upon the organ. Could you name a few companies working in this area? Preferably those that are interested in hiring freshly-minted PhDs… Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-we-have-organ-printing-or-stem-cells-to-replace-body-organs/793841.md?page=2)