Bioprinting: The Science of Cloning Cells

I am a clone. Maybe not in the way that many may think, but a clone nonetheless. Science fiction has an interesting way of depicting clones, painting them as bizarre, unnatural, and deformed pictures. However, I am completely natural, since I am a twin. This, by definition, means that I am a clone, because my DNA is exactly the same as that of my sister. Through modern research, scientists have discovered that they, too, can artificially replicate DNA to make a multitude of advancements. One of which is called Bioprinting.

Bioprinting is exactly what it sounds like: printing cells. Scientists have discovered a way to print cells, join them together, and eventually create substances such as tissues, organs, and teeth. They do this through a very unique three dimensional printer that has a cartridge that holds cells. There are two ways to bioprint cells. One way is drop based bioprinting, which is a method that consists of droplets of cells being put together and combined at the end. This method is quick, but tends to be too harsh for substances like organs. However, with extrusion bioprinting, scientists

These include healing burn victims, soldiers in the army, or those who are injured with deep wounds. Not only does it help patients heal twice as fast, it is more sanitary and leads to less risk of infection. Bioprinting can also eliminate animal and human testing, providing a safer and more eco friendly method of testing items such as cosmetics or medicines, since the bioprinter makes it so easy for skin to be accessible for testing. It also makes organs accessible to thousands of those on an organ transplant list very simply by incubating and cloning patient cells to create organs. Cloning now has taken a much different turn than what was thought in the past with science fiction movies. It is no longer freakish and grotesque, but rather useful and critical in saving many