Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

AutoModerator t1_jaairp3 wrote

Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

1

Cleoclementine t1_jaal06r wrote

Imagine the possibilities if we got the the point where we could 3D print whole entire organs

139

unswsydney OP t1_jaal6yf wrote

Hi r/science - researchers from our Medical Robotics Lab have developed a proof of concept of a tiny flexible 3D bioprinter that can be inserted into the body just like an endoscope and directly deliver multilayered biomaterials onto the surface of internal organs and tissues.

The team behind the concept say that with further development the technology could be used by medical professionals to access hard-to-reach areas inside the body via small skin incisions or natural orifices.

Their work has been published in Advance Science if you’d like to have a read: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/advs.202205656

49

modilion t1_jaatdqw wrote

Just FYI, there is a video of a colonoscopy and a fake butt on the next page. Mildly NSFW in public.

36

Kindred87 t1_jabbvll wrote

Replying to Cleoclementine (#2,083,657)

Better than 3D printing, we've actually been growing functioning organs in vivo in the lab for a while. Here's a paper from 2012 where organogenesis of ectopic eyes was induced in the guts of tadpoles via bioelectric pattern modulation: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22159581/

Other experiments have also induced the growth of extra limbs, hearts, brains, etc. in developing frogs using the same bioelectric pathways.

That research developed to the point of regenerating entire limbs in adult frogs that lack regenerative capabilities, in 2022: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abj2164

Current research is underway on mice, primarily in limb regeneration.

40

Kindred87 t1_jabhoag wrote

Replying to snoqualmie_pass (#2,092,922)

If we can revive the head and somehow provide it with life support, we can theoretically induce morphogenesis at the base of the neck to grow the rest of the body. I'm not sure if you could do it in one pass (i.e. build a body) or if you'd need to induce morphogenesis for each individual anatomical structure (torso, shoulder, heart, left lung, right lung, etc.).

Either way, the process would be insanely creepy because you'd essentially have a baby's body growing out of an old person's head. But it should be doable.

Einstein though isn't coming back. His bioelectric networks, genome, and all other biological information states are beyond recovery. If we had done a full genome sequencing on him and performed a full bioelectric pattern scan somehow, we could potentially have reverse-engineered him. The bioelectric piece would be necessary to create Einstein as he was in adulthood, versus as he was as a freshly fertilized oocyte which is all a genomic snapshot would grant you.

18

snoqualmie_pass t1_jabjgk1 wrote

Replying to Kindred87 (#2,093,116)

Wow that was totally amazing!

Naively I had thought that the body could be grown separately, using some samples from the head, then at some point, attached and reanimated. But I’m nearly clueless about this technology.

I’m a fan of the sci-fi series “The Expanse” and there’s a scene where someone who had lost their arm, was having a new one regrown. They actually showed a “baby’s arm” growing out of the stump. (They used a clear cylinder, filled with a liquid, to encapsulate it). Sounds like it was portrayed realistically.

Thank you for your fascinating comment!

6

Kindred87 t1_jabl7hv wrote

Replying to snoqualmie_pass (#2,093,600)

That portrayal is somewhat accurate for in vivo regeneration. What basically happens is that some of the processes during embryogenesis would be retriggered, resulting in a regenerative event. Though there would be a fairly large difference in what it would look like.

In embryogenesis, the bioelectric patterns dictating morphological goals like "the left side of the head goes here" and "build cardiac nerves here" gradually shift as the organism develops. The goal isn't to build an adult from the get go, the goal is to build the next stage on the way to eventual adulthood. This results in a relatively complete body that becomes more complex and larger over time. This is also why morphological goals are stored in volatile bioelectric networks instead of stable formats like DNA. They need to be modified at will both by developmental events and by other cells that need to coordinate with their neighbors.

With artificially induced morphogenesis, particularly in an adult, the bioelectric patterns would be for a complete adult anatomical structure at the very start; no gradual development here. In the case of an arm, for instance, this would result in growth coming from the stump that would begin forming the adult fingers of the hand very early on. It would look somewhat like a tree as all the parts of the limb would generate concurrently towards the adult shape instead of interim shapes like those of a child or adolescent.

7

bmaggot t1_jabtghu wrote

I need a few more hearts, lungs and livers in me. Black carapace maybe

5

Night_Chicken t1_jacizgl wrote

So now we can robotically place infections with great precision directly upon the target organ? Pancreatitis will never be the same.

−1

tommygunz007 t1_jacw943 wrote

There was someone talking about inserting cells that make insulin.. I remember reading a few years back about it.

0

Tarkcanis t1_jaev8zy wrote

Sometimes, you gotta look at a problem from down underneath to get a fresh perspective.

1