3D printing breakthrough could accelerate drug testing process

The breakthrough was published yesterday in Biofabrication.

Co-author of the study, Dr Will Wenmiao Shu, from Heriot-Watt University, said: ‘The generation of 3D structures from hESCs will allow us to create more accurate human tissue models, which are essential for in vitro drug development and toxicity testing. Since the majority of drug discovery is targeting human disease, it makes sense to use human tissues.’

In the longer term, this new method of printing may also pave the way for incorporating hESCs into artificially created organs and tissues ready for transplantation into patients.

In the study, the researchers, from Heriot-Watt University in collaboration with Roslin Cellab, a stem-cell technology company, used a valve-based printing technique, which was tailored to account for the sensitive and delicate properties of hESCs.

The hESCs were loaded into two separate reservoirs in the printer and were then deposited onto a plate in a pre-programmed, uniformed pattern.

Once the hESCs were printed, a number of tests were performed to discern how effective the method was. For example, the researchers tested to see if the hESCs remained alive after printing and whether they maintained their ability to differentiate into different types of cells. They are also said to have examined the concentration, characterisation and distribution of the printed hESCs to assess the accuracy of the valve-based method.