3D bioprinting in microgravity: An end to organ donor shortages?

Abstract

Countless lives have been saved with the advent of modern organ transplantation. However, the current shortage of compatible organ donors is limiting the life-saving potential of transplantation. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, approximately 20 patients die each day in the United States while waiting for a transplant [1]. The discrepancy between supply and demand of organ donors is accentuated by a fundamental ethical dilemma associated with deceased organ donation: one person must die so that another may live [2]. The current viewpoint considers the viability of 3D bioprinting in microgravity as a solution to organ donor shortages. Current alternatives to deceased organ donation, including xenotransplantation and other state-of-the-art bioprinting techniques, are reviewed and compared to bioprinting in microgravity. The limitations of bioprinting within Earth’s gravitational field are also discussed, revealing the need for further research.

3D Bioprinting and Organ Transplantation: Patient Dream or Ethical Nightmare?

“…This actually complicates the development of large organs that would collapse due to their own weight and distort the molecular structure of the organ. A microgravity environment has been proposed for bioprinting in space to avoid collapsing of the microstructure as experimented on earth (Lu & Groh, 2022).…”