Researchers build $450 bioprinter that produces over 100 living layers

Researchers at the University of Rochester and Cornell University built a $450 bioprinter that produces living materials with more than 100 layers, compared with less than 20 layers for previous DIY designs. Their study appeared in ACS Applied Polymer Materials. The team replaced a plastic printer's filament extruder with a syringe pump that deposits cells mixed with a polymer solution. A supporting gel holds the material as it solidifies, enabling taller structures and hollow cavities. One gel formulation kept microbes alive for four or more weeks; in previous methods, printed bacteria began dying after about nine days.