Printing technique recreates biological structures

This allows the researchers to observe how cells work within these environments and potentially enables them to study biological scenarios such as where cancer grows or how immune cells interact with other cells, which could lead to the development of drugs.

The technique combines molecular self-assembly, building structures by assembling molecules like Lego pieces, with additive manufacturing, similar to 3D printing, to recreate the complex structures.

The structures can be manufactured under digital control and with molecular precision which also enables the researchers to create constructs that mimic body parts or tissues for tissue engineering or regenerative medicine. The study was published in Advanced Functional Materials.

Professor Alvaro Mata, from Queen Mary’s School of Engineering and Materials Science, said: “The technique opens the possibility to design and create biological scenarios like complex and specific cell environments, which can be used in different fields such as tissue engineering by creating constructs that resemble tissues or in vitro models that can be used to test drugs in a more efficient manner.”

The technique integrates the micro- and macroscopic control of structural features that printing provides with the molecular and nano-scale control enabled by self-assembly. Because of this, it addresses a major need in 3D printing where commonly used printing inks have limited capacity to actively stimulate the cells that are being printed.

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Image credit: Queen Mary University of London.