With both medical and technological advancements, a lot of scientists and researchers have been working on 3D printing bodily materials like organs, and some of these organs even have the intricate details of blood vessels and tissues over the past few years. Now, this technology is being tested aboard the International Space Station or the ISS.
Deputy Chief Scientist at the ISS US National Laboratory, Dr. Mike Roberts has given light on the importance of testing this kind of, what they described as, cutting-edge technology in space. He says that the ISS is critical to the future of biomanufacturing. He mentions that while it is noteworthy that scientists have been growing cells in the lab for over a century now, gravity on earth limits the growth to only two dimensions, not like in they do in the human body. In our system, cells grow not only outward, but also in a vertical orientation. Aside from this, lab grown cells are often constrained by the container in which they are grown.
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