Biologically capable 3-D printers are at the very early stages of creating a technology platform that should allow us to convert human stem cells into a viable alternatives to more traditional organ transplant technologies. In 2011 researchers at Cornell made quite a bit of noise in the news when they said they had managed to print a replacement ear for a patient (although said ear was made of silicon, it served as a tremendous first step into helping the human body be rebuilt). Last August researchers at Wake Forest School of Medicine published their work on improvements made in technologies capable of depositing skin cells directly onto damaged flesh, improving the healing time of the patient. Recently scientists have released a paper highlighting drastic improvements in 3-D bio-printing that should make it easier to print out structures made from embrionic stem cells, providing potentially massive flexibility in the formation of replacement organs.
Medical advancements aside, bio-printers have created another potential avenue of research, the production of so called ethical meat. By using various technologies researchers are working to create a meat source that only requires that your cut of steak is grown no full animal ever forming. There are some questions as to the viability of such technologies as it would cost roughly $300,000 to make a single hamburger and steak is out of the question as the texture would be too difficult to achieve.
Fashion has also started to embrace 3-D printers as a way to create new innovations within their own field, with an entire show devoted to designers embracing new their new frontier.
What I envision is the merging of these worlds even further. Imagine a leather jacket that fits like another layer of skin, with no seems to be seen, as none would exist. By utilizing various printing technologies designers could realistically digitally develop a product for clients and then print out units on demand. Even under the most ideal circumstances of innovation it is unlikely that clothing made in this way will be affordable to the masses anytime soon, but for those who need to spend a quarter million dollars on a rather tacky jewel encrusted cell phone, such rarity would impart these pieces of clothing with tremendous value. The potential for environmental preservation should also not be ignored, as vat grown leather's cost is reduced the impact on species harvested for their fur, skin, feathers, or scales, should hopefully begin to rapidly diminish. Few are likely to protest clothing that is made from vat grown skin cells as opposed to an endangered species. Hopefully as technologies like in-vitro meats become more cost effective and lower on their impact than their traditional competitors, we can reduce our species burden on the world's ecosystems.
Follow Up
So it turns out that the idea of producing bio-printed leathers is not unique (hopefully I will get cosmic brownie points for suggesting you print the leather to the final desired shape) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waro4LJDZvU&feature=youtu.be&t=2m17s
Medical advancements aside, bio-printers have created another potential avenue of research, the production of so called ethical meat. By using various technologies researchers are working to create a meat source that only requires that your cut of steak is grown no full animal ever forming. There are some questions as to the viability of such technologies as it would cost roughly $300,000 to make a single hamburger and steak is out of the question as the texture would be too difficult to achieve.
Fashion has also started to embrace 3-D printers as a way to create new innovations within their own field, with an entire show devoted to designers embracing new their new frontier.
What I envision is the merging of these worlds even further. Imagine a leather jacket that fits like another layer of skin, with no seems to be seen, as none would exist. By utilizing various printing technologies designers could realistically digitally develop a product for clients and then print out units on demand. Even under the most ideal circumstances of innovation it is unlikely that clothing made in this way will be affordable to the masses anytime soon, but for those who need to spend a quarter million dollars on a rather tacky jewel encrusted cell phone, such rarity would impart these pieces of clothing with tremendous value. The potential for environmental preservation should also not be ignored, as vat grown leather's cost is reduced the impact on species harvested for their fur, skin, feathers, or scales, should hopefully begin to rapidly diminish. Few are likely to protest clothing that is made from vat grown skin cells as opposed to an endangered species. Hopefully as technologies like in-vitro meats become more cost effective and lower on their impact than their traditional competitors, we can reduce our species burden on the world's ecosystems.
Follow Up
So it turns out that the idea of producing bio-printed leathers is not unique (hopefully I will get cosmic brownie points for suggesting you print the leather to the final desired shape) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waro4LJDZvU&feature=youtu.be&t=2m17s
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