3D bioprinting is the key to obtaining the objects we need like wood and wants to avoid wasting ready-made materials that manufacturers would cut for their specific needs. Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a way to do this, and they can 3D print the customizable wood products in any shape without generating waste.
3D bioprinting: customizable wood products by MIT researchers
(Photo: Bernard Hermant on Unsplash)
MIT researchers recently published a study titled “Physical, mechanical, and microstructural characterization of new lab-grown, 3D-printed, and tunable plant materials generated from Zinnia elegans cell cultures“, and he talks about 3D bioprinting of wood materials for construction purposes.
It also promotes zero waste, significantly as 3D bioprinting would help create the custom shapes and sizes a customer would need for their wood needs.
According to the researchers (via SciTechDaily), they have developed a way to incorporate a tree’s DNA into the materials that its machine will 3D print. This way, users can get the exact size and dimensions of the material, while getting the same look and feel as wood materials.
Read also : 3D bioprinting technology recreates an active tumor in its entirety
Zero waste wood products: is it possible?
Waste-free wood products are somehow impossible, but MIT researchers’ 3D bioprinting venture will help drastically reduce unnecessary waste to cut. It used to be that makers cut considerable wood material to form the shape or design a person needed, and the scrap wood was wasted.
Now, research aims to reduce this via its studies.
3D bioprinting and alternatives now
The public is already aware that there are things like 3D bioprinting in technology and innovation right now, and they aim to bring people alternatives that would bring almost the same thing but quite different. Some foods like rib eye steaks get a 3D bio-printed choice, but their mouthfeel and taste are almost similar to the real thing.
Other applications of 3D bioprinting are aimed at the medical field and aim to offer the public a chance to obtain their transplant organs without having to wait for a donor and its availability in hospitals. Both the real organ and 3D bio-printed organs are less likely to function when brought to another body, and organ failure can occur here.
Science helps the public in many ways by meeting their needs and wants in this time of scarcity and sustainability for all fields. Having materials made from the original DNA and replicating the feel and texture it has can help give audiences more of what they will have and have less to lose when creating it via this new research. .
Related article: Contribution of 3D printing to several industries: can it solve today’s complex problems?
This article belongs to TechTimes
Written by Isaiah Richard
ⓒ 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
