US scientists have successfully built functional heart parts out of collagen using a 3D bioprinter, a breakthrough they say could one day create entire organs. Their technique, which was described in the journal Science on Thursday, replicates the body's own complex biological scaffolds that provide the structure and biochemical signaling organs need to function. "What we were able to show was you can actually 3D print a heart valve out of collagen, and they function," Adam Feinberg, one of the paper's co-authors told AFP. Previous attempts at printing these scaffolds, known as extracellular matrices, had been hindered by limitations that resulted in poor tissue fidelity and low resolutions. Previous attempts at printing these scaffolds, known as extracellular matrices, had been hindered by limitations that resulted in poor tissue fidelity and low resolutions. Collagen, which is an ideal biomaterial for the task since it is found in every tissue of the hu...
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