Natalie Kister
At Wake Forest Institute of Regenerative Medicine in North Carolina, a group of scientists, researchers and bioengineers have been working on 3D printing different small organs in the hopes that they will one day come to a point when they can implant these organs in humans. Exciting progress has been made in regards to this project. They team has recently successfully been able to not only print a human ear, jawbone, skull done and skeleton muscle, but implant these body parts onto the backs of mice and into rodents. While there have been pictures of ears attached to the backs of mice before, the difference with this new research is that the ear on the mouse was 3D printed AND it was able to live and grow. The mice’s bodies grew blood vessels to attach to the ear, allowing it to survive. Even more exciting to the researchers was that when printed muscle was implanted into rodents, nerve were grown and developed by the rodents bodies allowing the muscle to be usable. The printer works by combining biodegradable plastic, whose purpose is to provide the body part being printed with a stable structure, and a mixture of human cells with rat, mice, or rabbit cells. The use of living cells in the printer does not change the basic idea: this gel-like material is pumped out of the printer in layers, following a code for a certain body part.
This article contains very exciting news to the science and medical world. With the research conducted and preliminary discoveries made, it is hoped that this technology will soon be able to be used on humans. By taking the next step of implanting trials in humans, it is hoped that further discoveries can be made about the possibility of using biostructures in the future instead of looking immediately towards donor organs and prosthetic limbs. Victims of car crashes and other injuries were internal organs may be damaged or parts of their bodies lost can have new hope in this 3D technology.
I chose to read this article because the title, “It’s Possible to Grow a 3D Printed Ear on a Mouse’s Back”, caught my attention immediately. This article was easy to read and presented all of its information in a clear way. As someone who had not previously heard about this technology, the terms were well explained, allowing me to easily follow along and understand the concepts and article as a whole.
St, Nicholas. "It’s Possible to Grow a 3-D Printed Ear on a Mouse’s Back."The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. <http://www.nytimes.com/2016/02/22/science/its-possible-to-grow-a-3-d-printed-ear-on-a-mouses-back.html?action=click&contentCollection=science&module=NextInCollection®ion=Footer&pgtype=article&version=column&rref=collection%2Fcolumn%2Ftrilobites>.
Natalie’s review on the article, “It’s Possible to Grow a 3-D Printed Ear on a Mouse’s Back” was very clearly and concisely written. The very first sentence of the post explicitly explained what the article was about and highlighted the main idea of the article; I found this quite helpful. Also, her distinction between previous studies and this one made by scientists at Wake Forest made the importance of the 3D printed ear and its ability to live and grow very clear. Lastly, Natalie’s discussion of the significance of this 3D printing to the potential implantation trials in humans was a great connection that truly proved how important this scientific discovery is to the medical world.
ReplyDeleteAlthough this review was very well written, there are a couple improvements that can be made. There were a few typos throughout the review that can easily be fixed, but this did take away from the actual information that was presented in her review. Also, I believe that she could have started with a more intriguing opening. The first sentence cut straight to the point, as I stated before, but a more exciting statement could have been used to pull the reader in.
Both this article and review introduced the scientific field of 3D printing to me. I was unaware that scientists were using this technology to print small organs that were able to successfully grow on mice. I will be on the lookout for news on this technology’s development and whether scientists will eventually be able to implant these 3D printed organs in humans as well.
Great review Natalie! You gave a good summary-- it was cohesive and easy to understand, while also giving all the important information and covering all the points of the article. Additionally, your explanations were well written. I really understood the process of 3D printing and how this technology has been tested on rodents, showing promise for humans in the future. Another great point of your review was the second paragraph: it was a great addition that connected really well to the real world.
ReplyDeleteAlthough your review was extremely strong, to make it even stronger I would add a quote from a scientist. Getting an expert’s opinion on a topic is always a good idea because it increases the credibility of the reviewer.
The most interesting thing to me in this article was the fact that when the 3D printed organs and muscles were transplanted onto the backs of mice, the mice developed nerves and blood vessels to allow the tissues to survive. This massive technological breakthrough will hopefully one day allow humans to be able to have 3D printed organ transplants as well.
St, Nicholas. "It’s Possible to Grow a 3-D Printed Ear on a Mouse’s Back."The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2016. .
This article was presented in a very manageable way. The ideas were not dragged out into some wordy and boring explanation. This brevity made the information very easy to digest since it was put into an understandable nutshell. Also, Natalie did a good job of separating the facts from her own opinion which gives the reader an opportunity to formulate their own ideas and opinions. Lastly, Natalie did a very good job of picking out pieces of information that would obviously draw the reader in and encapsulate their interest without boring them with facts.
ReplyDeleteWhile this summary was well written, there we certain aspects that could have used tweaking. For instance, it would have been nice to have known a general timeline. How long has it taken to get to this point? How long will it be before this technology will be tested on humans? Secondly, it would have been nice to have seen more direct quoting from the article to make the information seem more reliable.
It is always amazing to see how far science has come. Seeing advancements like this make today seem like some future out of a science fiction novel. The possibilities for technology that could regrow muscle or even entire limbs seem limitless.
St, Nicholas. "It’s Possible to Grow a 3-D Printed Ear on a Mouse’s Back."The New York Times. The New York Times, 21 Feb. 2016. Web. 22 Feb. 2016.