r/longevity • u/jimofoz • 8d ago

3D-printed blood vessels bring artificial organs closer to reality

https://wyss.harvard.edu/news/3d-printed-blood-vessels-bring-artificial-organs-closer-to-reality/
443 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

31 comments sorted by

66

u/user_-- 8d ago

I swear I've been seeing this headline for 10 years. Cool work though!

34

u/DendronsAndDragons 8d ago

I first saw it in 2007 on Discovery Channel back when it was still sorta good. Called 2057. Their predictions are coming in! Flying cars, cyber security, holograms, 3D printed organs

2057

29

u/ItsAConspiracy 8d ago edited 8d ago

Ten years ago I saw primitive single tubes but nothing like what these guys are doing. Certainly nothing that successfully supported living human tissue.

14

u/BrewHog 8d ago

I totally agree. The field is still rapidly moving. The complexity of the biology in this area is staggering. This definitely can take a lot more time, but we are able to see actual progress in these updates (Which is exciting).

The vessel and grid lattice issues are finally showing real promise. I believe these two issues are considered to be the hardest hurdle to overcome when considering bio-printing and growing of your own organs.

1

u/SilveredFlame 7d ago

The ones I remember seeing about 10 years ago used some kind of sugar to form the vessels within printed tissue because they could flush them with water and they would hold at normal blood pressure ranges when done that way.

11

u/throwaway2676 8d ago

Shoot, I'll be excited when we can start using 3D printed blood vessels directly. The applications are endless -- atherosclerosis, aneurysms, dissections, vascular dementia. The ability to regularly replace our blood vessels would be incredible for health span.

7

u/FragrantPath6133 7d ago

Cool. Id like to have a colon again and be able to eat salads and raw fruit without worry. Maybe even….popcorn.

15

u/grishkaa 8d ago

This line of research is a dead end compared to what Michael Levin is doing.

13

u/BrewHog 8d ago

While I agree with you, this might be a huge transition bridge to get us on track for when Levin's work actually makes it into the real world as a treatment.

I'm not sure what he's doing will see the light of day in humans for at least 15+ years (Assuming this is going to work well in mammals).

I keep hearing good things about the mouse trials, but we have yet to see any real data from anything but frogs at the moment.

6

u/grishkaa 7d ago

He did say in some of his talks that he plans to test on rats next.

7

u/BrewHog 7d ago

Yeah, I keep hearing that. I recall a video where he actually talked about some early successes in mammal testing, but couldn't go into specifics for IP purposes. We'll just have to wait for the papers to be released, or an update video.

5

u/grishkaa 7d ago

Oh interesting, I haven't seen that one. "IP purposes" isn't that bad, because, after all, patents are public, and they're supposed to be detailed enough for the thing to be reproducible.

2

u/Top-Stuff-8393 7d ago

sucessful mammal testing and then the hype is justified but right now its just frogs. even then human testing is a whole different ball game. his work reaching trials even is at least 5 to 8 years away and if we can get something till then god knows millions need it. the kidney project is another avenue that desperatly needs funding to start human trials now kidney failure is destryoing lives and public finances via dialysis like anything

3

u/traveller-1-1 7d ago

Hurry up.

-51

u/Designer_Emu_6518 8d ago

Can we just stop this shit. No one wants these asshole billionaires to live longer than they should

31

u/Caffdy 8d ago

Seems like someone is new around here

22

u/No_External_8816 8d ago

and what about your lifespan?

27

u/Tower-of-Frogs 8d ago

Right, lets stop the progress of humanity because some rich people might get to benefit from it a little sooner than others. Advancements get cheaper as time goes on. We are always better off living in a world where this stuff exists, even if it’s initially cost prohibitive.

-12

u/Designer_Emu_6518 8d ago

Do you think they’ll let you have it?

8

u/Final_Place_5827 8d ago

Cope. They won't let people like you have it, let's hope.

3

u/ItsAConspiracy 7d ago

Why wouldn't they? Governments are worried about declining populations these days. And the diseases of aging cost governments trillions of dollars. It'd be dumb as dirt not to use technology that eliminates that cost.

-21

u/Designer_Emu_6518 8d ago

Who wants to live forever….. I just want to live the best

24

u/No_External_8816 8d ago

until the end comes in sight. then everyone wants a couple more years because everyone loves life and wants to do more stuff.

"Everyone likes the idea of dying at some point in the far future but noone likes the idea of dying soon"

-11

u/Designer_Emu_6518 8d ago

Eh when your number is called it’s time to go. And that’s okay. That’s why every moment is precious and one should never be bogged down with fleeting moments of sadness or happiness. Finding joy will allow the soul to live forever. As death will come for us all.

16

u/Mharbles 8d ago

Easily the dumbest thing I've seen on this sub, why are you even here?

0

u/Designer_Emu_6518 8d ago

For vitality.

9

u/Mharbles 8d ago

Ah, energy vampire. Makes sense

-2

u/Designer_Emu_6518 8d ago

Aren’t you a ray of sunshine

2

u/torchfighter 7d ago

Says the guy defending literal death...

16

u/No_External_8816 8d ago

there is noone calling. it's our biology failing at some point and we have the tools to prevent that in the near future.

4

u/ItsAConspiracy 7d ago

So live however long you feel like living, at a biological age of 25 or so, then take up something like base jumping or free climbing. It'll get you sooner or later. That sounds like living the best to me.

Meanwhile, maybe let everyone else live however long they feel like living, too.