For you youngsters out there, Weird Science was a movie from the 1980s in which 2 young boys used a computer to literally create the woman of their dreams.Well, we aren't there yet, but with a development out of the University of Missouri, we're one step closer.
Researchers at the school have developed a working 3D printer that uses something called 'bio-ink' - a mushy, gooey substance made from human cells - that binds to a bio-paper template, which then dissolves to leave something that looks like a human body part.
While scientists are long way off from actually printing organs, they have managed to make a human vein, and are currently working on perfecting the process.
And who knows? Maybe in 20 years from now we'll be closer to living out a vaguely sexist 1980s ideal of manufacturing the perfect woman. The future! So much to look forward to!
DVICE
About the Author
Navneet Alang is a Toronto-based technology and culture writer whose work has appeared in The Atlantic, The New Republic and The Globe and Mail. Between 2010 and 2011 he wrote technology commentary for TECHi on Apple, cloud video and the future of the desktop computer.
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