McMaster researchers have developed a new material that could accelerate medical research and drug discovery by making it easier to 3D print soft, realistic tissue models.
Developed by McMaster-backed Tessella Biosciences, the bioink can be used to print flexible, stable, three-dimensional structures at body temperature, an advantage over conventional bioinks that require low temperatures and often result in 3D shapes that collapse into puddles, says Jose Moran-Mirabal, co-founder and professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology.
The McMaster startup emerged from a research problem facing co-founder Jeremy Hirota, an associate professor of medicine who studies lung diseases like COPD and pulmonary fibrosis.
“Lungs breathe. They open and close with every breath we take,” says Hirota, who is a member of the Firestone Institute for Respiratory Health at The Research Institute of St. Joe’s. “But 95 to 99 per cent of the research we do in the lab is done on hard plastic dishes, whether it’s a petri dish or a tissue culture plate. It doesn’t take a scientist to understand that this hard plastic is not what your lungs are.”
>> Read the full story on McMaster University's Brighter World.