Harris 1

Raven Harris

Mrs. Bashford

English Honors 9

10 August, 2016

Unique technological advances have been the latest hot topic in news recently. One topic

that is spoken about frequently is 3D printing. Over 100 years ago, humans would have never

thought about being able to print out their own objects at home. Well, now there is a device that

may help develop medical advances and be the spark of a small business.

Researchers have currently been undergoing studies on 3D printing, and how effective it

could be. Recently, “researchers in China had printed out a kidney that lasted four months, while

in the US, a two-year-old child with burn wounds was fitted with a plastic windpipe that had

been infused with her stem cells which was also created using a 3D printer” (Russon). Creating

plastic organs with these printers can support newly graduated surgeons practice surgeries, and

could create non-permanent body parts for citizens who truly need them. Another feature that is

possible with 3D printing is drug testing, or clinical trials. Russon also explains that

“pharmaceutical companies could test out new experimental drugs on 3D printed human organs

in place of testing drugs on actual humans in clinical trials.”Majority of the bioprinting research

is being done at universities, so not an abundance of material has came out about creating and

copying another human's organs.