A prototype of a desktop 3D bioprinter that builds 3D living tissue out of human cells.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Q: What is the key difference between bioprinters and traditional 3D printers?

Bioprinters work in almost the exact same way as 3D printers, with one key difference. Instead of delivering materials such as plastic, ceramic, metal or food, they deposit layers of biomaterial, that may include living cells.

Bioprinters use metal as their primary material

Bioprinters print with living cells and biomaterials

Bioprinters print faster than traditional 3D printers

Bioprinters can print plastic objects

A: 2

Q: Where do the cells used in bioprinting typically come from?

Every tissue in the body is naturally made up of different cell types. So the required cells (kidney cells, skin cells and so on) are taken from a patient and then cultivated until there are enough to create the ‘bio-ink’, which is loaded into the printer.

They are synthesized from chemical compounds

They are taken from the patient and cultivated

They are harvested from animals

They are sourced from the environment

A: 2

Q: What guides the cells to their correct locations in the bioprinted structure?

They use their inherent properties to seek out similar cells to join with. They innately know where they are needed, like the way cells in an embryo develop in the womb, or tissue in an adult moves to repair damage.

Electrical impulses

The printer’s magnetic field

Their inherent properties and ability to join with similar cells

External guidance from human operators

A: 3

Q: Which of the following tissues can be potentially created using bioprinting technology?

Skin, blood vessels, and organs can be created easily using bioprinting technology.

Skin, blood vessels, and organs

Plastic-based tissues

Wood-like tissues

Concrete-based structures

A: 1

Q: What advantage does bioprinting offer for medical treatments?

Bioprinting technology could provide the opportunity to generate patient-specific tissue for the development of accurate, targeted and completely personalised treatments.

It is faster than traditional surgeries

It eliminates the need for healthcare professionals

It can replace all types of medical procedures

It allows for patient-specific, personalized treatments

A: 4