Perhaps there is hope for damaged retinas

Researchers have successfully "printed" a pattern of retinal cells onto a surface using what can only be called "inkjet printing" technology.

UK researchers have used inkjet printing technology to successfully use ganglion cells and glial cells taken from the eye as “ink” in printing retinal patterns.

The breakthrough could lead to the production of artificial tissue grafts made from the variety of cells found in the human retina and may aid in the search to cure blindness.

The results are preliminary and provide proof-of-principle that an inkjet printer can be used to print the two types of intact cells from the retina of adult rats in patterns.

Using rat cells as a test study, these researched manage to use the same kind of controls used by inkjet printers to deposit living retina cell "ink" without damaging the cells.



(Below is a picture of a single retinal cell seen by the microscope, prior to leaving the 'jet' and being deposited precisely.)



The abstract of the research is provided in the source article: Cells taken from the retina act as ‘ink’ in inkjet printer

This is not a 100% deal, as it appears viable though... it may well be a path that could lead to curing some kinds of blindness.

The ability to arrange cells into highly defined patterns and structures has recently elevated the use of 3D printing in the biomedical sciences to create cell-based structures for use in regenerative medicine.

The possibilities of this blow my feeble mind.

After 7 laser surgeries and one open eye op.. I would love to know more..As I am now again blind in one eye...

THANK YOU OP for this

Yup, the printing of organs with peoples own stem cells is becoming a reality. This is so totally cool ... and makes me think, again, of the things we could do if we directed our resources towards things that improve life and knowledge rather than ending them.

A trite, old thought... but really, imagine the rapidity of advances if a third of the defense budget were allocated to cutting edge sciences.

Baddogma
Yup, the printing of organs with peoples own stem cells is becoming a reality. This is so totally cool ... and makes me think, again, of the things we could do if we directed our resources towards things that improve life and knowledge rather than ending them.

A trite, old thought... but really, imagine the rapidity of advances if a third of the defense budget were allocated to cutting edge sciences.

I really do think that organs will be able to be "printed" in the future. Like you said, using people's cells or DNA.

To me the future looks bright in the medical field.

This is kind of scarey and awsome at the same time. Will the eyes be able to read the fine print of the possible side effects?