New Meaning to the Word; "Print"

     I'm gonna hit you guys with a little scenario. Let's say you were in an accident and are consequently in need of a kidney. There are ten people in front of you on the donor list, but you don't have that much time left. Don't you wish there was some way to "make" a kidney? Well, I have some good news for everybody out there.
 
     Thursday, at a TED Conference in Long Beach, California, a representative of Wake Forrest Institute of Regenerative Medicine presented the concept of "printing" human organs, specifically kidneys. "It's like baking a cake," said Anthony Atala of Wake Forrest Institute of Regenerative Medicine.
 
     After creating a 3-D image of the patients kidney, a small tissue sample the size of half a postage stamp seeds the computerized process. Then, by replicating the small bit of tissue, the organ "printer" works layer-by-layer to build a fresh kidney.

     About 90% of the patients on the transplant list are in need of kidneys. According to Atala, the need for organs outweighs the supply of organs donated, thus not only making this system of generating organs innovative, but necessary.

    

     This procedure has already been tested on patients and has proven successful. College student Luke Massella was one of the first patients to receive a "printed" kidney when he was 10 years old. "The surgery saved my life and made me who I am today," said Massella.

See for yourself! The TED Conference (full segment on "printing")

 
     Think of the possibilities. If kidneys can be generated through this procedure, imagine what other vital organs can be "printed."