Skip to content
Surprising Science —

Printing Human Skin

Ink-jet printing technology has inspired scientists to look for ways to build sheets of skin that could one day be used for grafts in burn victims, experts said Sunday.
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

One technique involves a portable bioprinter that could be carried to wounded soldiers on the battlefield where it would scan the injury, take cells from the patient and print a section of compatible skin. Another uses a three-dimensional printer combining donor cells, biofriendly gel and other materials to build cartilage. The 3-D printer was shown at work, building a prototype of an ear during a half-hour demonstration at a Washington science conference. Hod Lipson of Cornell University in New York said it worked much like an ink-jet printer.

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people
Related
A person with long curly hair and a headband gestures with one hand, wearing a black shirt that says "everyday" and a smartwatch on the other wrist, against a plain background.
Former CIA agent: The truth about manipulation
“The truth is that the skills that go into both motivation and manipulation are almost the same skills. The same level of persuasion, the same level of influence, the same level of charisma and dynamic creative thinking drives us to both be manipulated and be motivated.”
▸
13 min
—
with
Andrew Bustamante
Up Next
Personal Growth
Repetition Helps Reading
It may be boring for parents—but reading the same book over and over again to children is the best way to develop their vocabulary, say researchers at Sussex University.