3D Stem Cell Printing for Animal-Free Drug Development

Printing tissues and mini-organs has recently been achieved by using modified ink-jet printer technology in the field of biofabrication. The novel method of direct printing live cells opens up new paradigm in tissue science for drug discovery and therapeutic applications. This project aims to develop the first commercial stem cell bioprinter based on the valve-based printing methods pioneered at Heriot-Watt University, capable of printing human embryonic stem cells without damage. We will develop a new printer by integrating a 3D printing platform with optimised valve based cell printing technology. The new platform will then be validated for producing human heart tissues using human induced pluripotent stem cells by leading specialists Roslin Cellab Ltd. The new tool will not only allow us to produce high quality human tissue for potentially more reliable animal free drug testing, but also enable a range of high throughput applications for pharmaceutical industry, biotechnology companies and stem cell biologists.