Researchers based in Dresden, Germany are contemplating not only the future of healthcare materials but also their potential applications beyond Earth. Michael Gelinsky, professor and head of the Center for Translational Bone, Joint, and Soft Tissue Research, along with his team, are developing living inks that could potentially be used by astronauts to treat injuries sustained on lengthy space missions, where aid from Earth isn’t an option –– like Mars.
Analogous to the ink cartridge in your office printer, bioinks contain living cells suspended in a solution of a biopolymer or blend of biopolymers, such as alginate or gelatin. But instead of printing a document, extrusion-based bioprinters use bioinks to produce layered 3D hydrogel constructs embedded with the cells contained in the ink.
These constructs, whose shapes are preprogrammed into a computer, have been used to produce patient-specific implants and generate life-like models that mimic organ tissue, which can be used for basic research purposes.
Currently, cell-laden bioinks have only been printed on Earth, where the necessary facilities, equipment, and staff are available, and the effects of gravity are known. Bioprinting under microgravity, such as on the International Space Station (ISS), where resources and crew are limited, is a more complicated matter.
Source : Science News