As mentioned in my last blog post, I was not able to interview someone in the specified field of biotech/bioprinting, however i have interviewed friends about this subject. A fellow student of mine has listed some pros and cons of bioprinting:

Pros

1. Faster and more precise than traditional methods of building organs by hand.

2. Less prone to human error.

3. Less laborious for scientists.

4. Organs unlikely to be rejected after transplantation.

5. Reduced organ trafficking.

6. Decreased waiting times for organ donors.

7. Decreased animal testing.

8. Finished products are independent of biomaterial or scaffolding absent in native tissues.

9. Effects of disease states or drugs may be more accurately observed without the need for human subjects.

10. Reproducibility of tissue is ensured through tight control of both composition and geometry; reduced variability.

11. Well-organized, diverse cell types allow enhancement of tissue-specific functions.

Cons

1. Questions of liability if a printed object fails.
2. Disputed ownership of the codes and implants produced.¹⁵
3. Various ethical concerns.
4. Pricing; availability to only the wealthy.
5. Consumption of large amounts of energy.
6. Emission of unhealthy particles into the air.
7. Difficulty in maintaining cell environment, resulting in the death of many cells.

I feel like the pros outweigh the cons. No matter what we do, there will always be an ethical backlash to our actions. Fossil fuels is probably the most prominent example of this. Killing the earth for our ease of life -> recreating “spare parts” to replace our old selves with. Is it really worth it? I certainly think so, however the sacredness of the human life will definitely diminish.