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Wiki-Weapons Project Shows 3D Printed Gun Part Can Withstand 600 Round


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There was an article that I read the other day, saying that they can use live cells, and print BODY PARTS! They would be used in reconstructive surgery, such as building a person a new ear, after a disfiguring accident. (ok, go ahead and let the posts about bigger boobs and stuff start! lol)

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Uh, don't believe everything you read. They might build a prosthetic, but to print a body part? Hogwash. Its not like our arms are made of a piece of plastic. The structure is very intricate and intricate down to the atomic level.

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Uh, don't believe everything you read. They might build a prosthetic, but to print a body part? Hogwash. Its not like our arms are made of a piece of plastic. The structure is very intricate and intricate down to the atomic level.

 

Read into it more - they're building structures out of living cells. Basically, you harvest live cells from the patient, grow them outside the body in culture, then feed them into a 3D printer which dispenses one cell type from each nozzle. It works like any other 3D printer in that it deposits the material, layer by layer. This technology is in its very earliest stages, but shows great promise.

 

Even more exciting - scaffolding technology. Take an animal organ of approximately the right size and function, and dissolve all the living tissue, leaving only a "scaffold" made from nonliving materials - the "scaffolding" has no living tissue, only nonliving structures that make up the basic structure of the organ. Apply the appropriate cell types, harvested from the patient, on the appropriate surfaces of the organ, grow them in culture until a functional organ has grown - then install the organ in the patient, without the complication of rejection.

Edited by Shandlanos
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^^^ the problem is "printing" cells into scaffolds is fairly poor as it is. The cells have to land on the scaffold, adhere through natural processes, and then integrate and communicate with each other. I don't want to sound like I am bragging, but I also have a Ph.D. in biochemistry. The scaffold, if its non-natural, would likely pose problems with adherence, and dropping the right combination of collagens, and other scaffold materials out of a printer just seems absurd. That said, I have to look into it. I could be wrong, but in my line of work you come to realize that the advertising usually far exceeds the actuality.

 

As a direct example, cells grown in culture, if they are grown faster so that they can be laid onto the scaffold, rather than just grown there, develop a distinct set of cell surface anchors (the proteins that adhere to the surface of the cell matrix upon which they are normally a part, but essentially those that go on the scaffold). Therefore, when they are laid down, there is question as to adherence, versus being grown on the same matrix.

Edited by Remek
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I really think the real adgenda of defense distributed it to speed up laws that would prevent people from building their own firearms. Especially since the whole point is to avoid using an ffl and having serial numbers on their guns. it is very easy to build a top notch ak from a parts kit and an 80 percent receiver and the same goes for ARs. I feel like this is the real reason these guys are getting a lot of press.

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^^^ the problem is "printing" cells into scaffolds is fairly poor as it is. The cells have to land on the scaffold, adhere through natural processes, and then integrate and communicate with each other. I don't want to sound like I am bragging, but I also have a Ph.D. in biochemistry. The scaffold, if its non-natural, would likely pose problems with adherence, and dropping the right combination of collagens, and other scaffold materials out of a printer just seems absurd. That said, I have to look into it. I could be wrong, but in my line of work you come to realize that the advertising usually far exceeds the actuality.

 

As a direct example, cells grown in culture, if they are grown faster so that they can be laid onto the scaffold, rather than just grown there, develop a distinct set of cell surface anchors (the proteins that adhere to the surface of the cell matrix upon which they are normally a part, but essentially those that go on the scaffold). Therefore, when they are laid down, there is question as to adherence, versus being grown on the same matrix.

 

That makes sense - but I'm not talking about printing cells to a scaffold. 3D printing and scaffolding are two distinct technologies. In scaffolding, a solution of cells and nutrients is sprayed on the scaffold, so that the cells are cultured on the scaffold - essentially allowing the organ to be "matured" outside of the body.

 

I think you're right that printing out the appropriate scaffold materials is way beyond our present technical prowess - creating something as complicated as an organ, even skin, with all its pores and glands and specialized structures, is probably well beyond our current abilities.

 

Harvesting a natural scaffold, and spraying some cells and nutrients onto it, likely is possible. Even 3D printing basic structures like cartilage is many, many years from practical application. It's great that we're experimenting and improving the technology. Eventually, it will be practical.

 

Even now, the sort of 3D printer available to the average American is NOT the kind of 3D printer that was used to produce the AR receiver by Defense Distributed, nor the AR mag. They are using a very fancy, very expensive, very precise printer - I've seen what inexpensive home-built solutions like the RepRap produce, and the finished products are, to be nice, rough.

Edited by Shandlanos
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Okay, sorry, yes your statements are right though. A scaffold can be laid down and cells can be sprayed onto them, and they take hold. Its not super advanced, but they can drop an ear-like shaped scaffold and form tissue on it. The next step is getting it to be viable when later attached to a human. Right now, they grown on the backs of mice. The matrix is artificial and degrades and is replaced by another matrix (not sure its a cartilage matrix). It has to be done this way, because the tissue needs to grow arteries and veins, but maybe it will change in the future.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vacanti_mouse

 

I had thought you were saying the ink jet was shooting the scaffold and cells into place.

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