Researchers from Rutgers University have created a bio-ink that could serve as a scaffold for growing human tissue. 3D-printed human tissue could be used to repair or replace damaged tissue on a person.

This 3D printing system would print gel scaffolds, or support structures, for growing human tissues. Like traditional printers that rely on four pigments to cover the entire color spectrum, the system would include hyaluronic acid and polyethylene glycol as the basic "ink cartridges" and other cartridges featuring inks with different cells and ligands that serve as binding sites for cells. Source: Madison Godesky

Bioengineered tissues could be used for regenerative, precision and personalized medicine, product development and basic research and biomaterials that could serve as scaffolding for growing tissues.

Hyaluronic acid is a natural molecule found in the body tissue, but it lacks durability. The team used modified hyaluronic acid and polyethylene glycol to create a gel for scaffolding. The scaffolding was strengthened with chemical reactions. The mixture has properties that allow cells to multiply, differentiate and remodel the scaffold for a given tissue. The stiffness of gel or scaffold bonding sites that cells latch onto is determined by the modified properties of the material.

In the future, 3D printing systems could use hyaluronic acid and polythene glycol as ink cartridges. The system would have other ink cartridges with different cells and ligands to serve as binding sites for the cells. This system would print gel scaffolds with the right stiffness, cells and ligands based on the desired tissue.

The project is unique because users can control the stiffness and ligands independently through a combination of inks.

A paper on this research was published in Biointerphases.