BIOPRINTING
DEVELOPING ORGANS ON DEMAND
Issues
Cost
As this technology is currently very new and complex, the price to buy a 3D bioprinter can be very high, with a price sometimes go up to $200,000. In addition to the bioprinter itself, this practice can be costly due to the needed materials, machinery, and conditions to carry out the practice.
However, researchers have had success in printing living tissue from printers that are neither advanced nor expensive. At Carnegie Mellon, researchers printed live tissue from a printer that cost only $1,000.
Regardless of the high prices for high-tech 3D bioprinters, they still prove to be worth the cost. The work and discoveries made from bioprinting, from the printing of blood vessels to the printing of entire organs and organ systems, are far more valuable than the value of practicing the method itself.
Religion
Founded on the idea that researchers who are working on the topic of bioprinting are "playing God", many who follow certain religions such as Christianity and Catholicism are opposed to the practice.
