New bio-ink developed for creation of artificial organs

A new type of bio-ink with potential applications in producing artificial organs has been developed by researchers.

Created by a University of British Columbia team, the bio-ink was produced following an analysis of three different forms of methacrylate (GelMA), a hydrogel that can serve as a building block in 3D bioprinting.

After assessing porcine skin, cold-water fish skin and cold-soluble gelatin, it was shown that hydrogel made from cold-soluble gelatin – which dissolves without heat – was by far the best performer, forming healthy tissue scaffolds as well as being thermally stable at room temperature.

Cold-soluble GelMA was also shown to produce consistently uniform droplets, making it an excellent choice for use in 3D bioprinting, despite currently being used primarily in culinary applications.

The next step will be to establish whether cold-soluble GelMA-based tissue scaffolds could be used long-term both in laboratory settings and in real-world transplants.

Keekyoung Kim, an assistant professor at UBC Okanagan's school of engineering, said: "We hope this new bio-ink will help researchers create improved artificial organs and lead to the development of better drugs, tissue engineering and regenerative therapies."

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