Australian scientists are researching the construction of human body parts by using 3D printing. Source: AAP
SCIENCE fiction could become fact with scientists on the verge of creating human organs by reproducing a patient's own skin cells using a 3D printer.
3D printing uses machines to build body cells layer by layer from digital data.
Researchers from Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital and the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science (ACES) in Wollongong are behind the medical breakthrough.
ACES director Professor Gordon Wallace said he believed it would be possible to manufacture living tissues like skin, cartilage, arteries and heart valves using cells and biomaterials within five years.
By 2025, scientists could fabricate complete functional organs, tailored for an individual patient.
"The ability to create or replicate what biology can do will obviously deliver clinical solutions to problems where we can't deliver clinical solutions at the moment," he told reporters.
Using a patient's own cells to create this tissue avoids issues of immune rejection, Prof Wallace said.
"It would have a great impact on people who are waiting for (organ) donors."
Prof Wallace said he was conscious of the ethical dilemmas raised by rapid advancements in the technology.
"Certainly 20 to 30 years ago I didn't think it was possible, even as recently as five years ago. Things have moved incredibly quickly," he said.
"Trying to keep the community, regulators and the commercial sector up to speed with advancements in the area is a real challenge for us."
The technology could provide the solution to several medical challenges, allowing for the testing of drugs on human tissue.
Prof Wallace said the research would receive a boost next month with the launch of an additive biofabrication unit at St Vincent's Hospital, the first of its kind in Australia to be located in a hospital.
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