Illustrations by Katie Scott

Science fiction is slowly becoming science non-fiction. Scientists are making leaps and bounds in developing ways to grow human body parts, a breakthrough that could revolutionise the way we treat, repair and think about the human body.

Last April, advanced medical research company Organovo presented a groundbreaking feat in biotechnology: the world’s first fully cellular, bio-engineered liver tissue. In layman’s terms: a man-made liver. It was small – just 20 cell layers thick – and remained alive for only five days. But what was fascinating about this tiny piece of tissue was how it had been made. It had been built by a 3D printer.

Bioprinting is a technological process that places individual cells alongside one another to form new living tissue structures. It works using a device not entirely unlike a more traditional paper printer. A cartridge is loaded with a special mixture of cells, which are slowly assembled, by a computer, into a three-dimensional shape. After that it’s down to nature. The new cells instinctively adapt to each other to complete the construction of the organ.