3-D printers may someday be producing complex -- and controversial -- human organs . Their precise process can reproduce vascular systems required to make organs viable . The first step is a series of chemical reactions that create the building blocks for new blood vessels, which are then used in tissue engineering. The resulting mixture , a sort of biological ink , is fed into a 3-D printer , which is programmed to arrange different cell types , along with other materials , into a precise three-dimensional shape . ` It has the potential for being a very important breakthrough '' Researcher : Bioprinting will spark a major ethical debate by 2016 .
3-D printers may someday be producing complex -- and controversial -- human organs . Their precise process can reproduce vascular systems required to make organs viable . The first step is a series of chemical reactions that create the building blocks for new blood vessels, which are then used in tissue engineering. ` It has the potential for being a very important breakthrough '' Researcher : Bioprinting will spark a major ethical debate by 2016 .