A欧洲航天局（ESA）在德累斯顿大学技术大学（TUD）已经证明了在类似太空的环境中3D打印生物学物质的能力。
turing过程literally在其头上，该团队成功地在3D生物销售中，在负1G条件下为特殊配制的墨水。随着发展的发展，该团队希望该材料可以用于长期勘探任务的宇航员的医疗治疗。
“火星旅行或其他r interplanetary destinations will involve several years in space,” comments Tommaso Ghidini, project lead and head of Structures, Mechanisms and Materials at ESA, “The crew will run many risks, and returning home early will not be possible,”
“Carrying enough medical supplies for all possible eventualities would be impossible in the limited space and mass of a spacecraft. Instead, a 3D bioprinting capability will let them respond to medical emergencies as they arise.”
Topsy-Turvy 3D打印试验
On ESA’s roadmap fro 3D bioprinting in space, engineered skin tissue is the first step. On Earth, this is achieved using a nutrient-rich blood plasma ink. For space however, this ink requires some modifications, as TUD PhD fellow Nieves Cubo explains, “plasma has a highly fluid consistency, making it difficult to work with in altered gravitational conditions.”
To increase the viscosity of the plasma bioink, Cubo and the TUD team added a common cosmetic and food-safe thickener, methylcellullose, and an alginate which can be obtained from plants and algae. This was used to 3D print skin samples. The same recipe was also used to create an ink for 3D printing artificial bone structures, containing stem cells (instead of plasma) and calcium phosphate bone cement.
In both instances, the bioinks were deposited on an upside down 3D printer the “next best thing” to actual low-gravity conditions.
3D bioprinting in space
ESA至少在接下来的十年中将继续开发皮肤和骨生物学的配方。在那个时候，团队还回家开始开发人造软骨。
其他一些公司已经在太空中试用了3D生物打印技术。总部位于佛罗里达的3D打印系统制造商nscrypt和太空飞行设备开发人员Techshot最近宣布了发送他们的计划3D BioFabrication Facility(BFF) to the International Space Station (ISS) this summer. Russia’s3D Bioprinting Solutions还试图使其恢复活力微重力3D生物打印实验after the unfortunate failure of theSOYUZ MS-10太空飞行。
ESA’s 3D Printing of Living Tissue for Space Exploration project is supported through the agency’s Basic Activities within the发现和准备element. It is led by European space technology development companyOHB系统AG与翻译骨，关节和软组织研究中心德国的Tu Dresden和Life Sciences专家蓝色地平线。
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Featured image shows close-up of 3D bioprinted bone structure from TUD’s ESA project. Photo via University Hospital of Dresden Technical University
