Have you ever just wanted to order a new batch of skin tissue on a whim? That’s apparently something that might happen in the not-too-distant future, as at least one company is researching technology that would allow it to grow human skin using 3D-printing techniques. The company in question is French cosmetics company L’Oreal, which partnered with bio-engineering start-up Organovo for the gig.
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Skin grown using 3D-printing techniques could be used for various purposes in the future, including testing new skin-related cosmetic products on it, or making it available to burn victims who’d require new skin. L’Oreal said it’ll use it in product tests, BBC reports.
“Our partnership will not only bring about new advanced in vitro methods for evaluating product safety and performance, but the potential for where this new field of technology and research can take us is boundless,” the company said in a statement.
3D-printing skin and/or organs is not necessarily a new procedure, but Organovo says it has a new technology in place that can assemble 3D tissues without the need of a supporting scaffold, as in other methods.
The company has already produced 3D-printed tissue available last year, though experts are cautious about such products for now. Printing skin might be easier than organs, though, experts told BBC.
