Scientists create a Lego bioprinter capable of growing human skin (video)

Scientists in the United Kingdom have created a unique printer using Lego parts. This bioprinter is capable of producing samples of artificial human skin for medical research.

The unique development cost 500 pounds sterling (just over 600 US dollars) to produce, The Conversation reports. Scientists say that this printer can be modified with different types of nozzles.

"This will make it possible to create artificial human skin of different types - healthy and damaged," the report says.

The scientists told the publication that they began working on their own highly technical bioprinter in a laboratory in Cardiff using standard Lego bricks, their mechanical sub-brand Lego Mindstorms, and a laboratory pump, which is a device commonly found in research laboratories.

A multidisciplinary team of engineers and biologists worked together to design, develop, construct, and program the bioprinter.

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The principle of its operation is as follows: a special nozzle throws a gel-like substance filled with cells onto a dish. The device is based on a Lego Mindstorms minicomputer. This device moves the plate back and forth and side to side, while moving the nozzle up and down mechanically as it squeezes out the gel containing the cells. These programmable movements create layers of cells to replicate the 3D structure of human tissue, layer by layer.

"The bioprinter is now being used to create layers of skin cells, providing a full-scale model of the skin. It can also be modified by using different types of nozzles to print different types of cells, embedding a variety of complex tissue patterns. This is an exciting opportunity to mimic both healthy and diseased skin, revise existing treatments, and develop new treatments for various skin diseases," the scientists explained.

The bioprinter can not only provide an accurate representative model of human skin but can also be used to add diseased cells to healthy models that scientists produce. With its help, scientists want to study how skin diseases develop and how healthy and diseased cells interact, etc.

We offer you to learn about a new invention of scientists that will not harm even children who may swallow it.

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