Fwd: [MakerBot] kids love the promise of MakerBot and RepRap!
Bryan Bishop
From: Jordan Miller <jrd...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 1:19 PM
Subject: [MakerBot] kids love the promise of MakerBot and RepRap!
To: make...@googlegroups.com
Cc: repra...@lists.reprap.org
Hi,
just wanted to say how thrilled the students were to learn about 3D
printing. I'm just returning from a trip to a high school in LA where
I told them (at a science academy seminar series) all about 3D
printing with MakerBot/RepRap for tissue engineering and regenerative
medicine. we had some demo videos, but Miles was also thankfully there
live-demoing a 3D printer for the students, and they absolutely loved
it! lots of oohs and aahs. His printed idea-to-object notecard was a
real hit too.
Here's to the next wave of 3D printing!! Go team!!
jordan
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Bryan Bishop
From: James McCracken <merl...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 1:27 PM
Subject: Re: [MakerBot] kids love the promise of MakerBot and RepRap!
To: make...@googlegroups.com
I had a chance to attend a formal dinner with Dr Tony Atalo
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Atala), one of the leaders in
tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. He's succesfully
created arteries, bladders, and urethra for transplant from the
patient's own cells. The process involves culturing human tissue,
then applying it to a matrix (made out of corn starch)... then holding
it at temperature (he calls them "his ovens" - a big bank of
incubators that mimic the environment inside the body) and stimulating
the tissue electrically to give it flexion and encourage cell
division...
More complex organs require human analog models. As it is, to grow a
bladder, they have to use a cadaver bladder. They make a negative
mold of it, then grow the bladder in it. A crucial part of this
process is that the mold takes on the micromechanical features of the
organ being grown, which promotes proper cell differentiation and
adhesion.
We talked at length about the posibility of using 3D printer to create
either the positive or negative molds for the process - The accuracy
of a makerbot isn't there yet, but some commercial systems are close.
He seemed very intrigued at the ideas, and I hope he's continuing to
explore the technology.
Bryan Bishop
From: Jordan Miller <jrd...@gmail.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 1:44 PM
Subject: Re: [MakerBot] kids love the promise of MakerBot and RepRap!
excellent! ya I've seen a bunch of Dr. Atala's talks and they are
revolutionary and inspirational (He's got an excellent TED talk if
anyone is curious, high res and immediately available at:
http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_growing_organs_engineering_tissue.html).
He's directly helped thousands of patients regain organ function with
regenerative technologies.
We are working in a closely related area though several steps away
from human patients for the forseeable future. But you should see some
of the first applications of MakerBot/RepRap in this space sooner
rather than later. I'm kind of basing my whole future research program
on it.
=]
jordan