Monthly Archives: November 2013

Recently I been researching on the concept of bio-printing. One of the most revolutionized innovations to be tested is brio-printing new organs for regenerative medicine. The idea is to be able to print out new organs for sick patients or patients waiting for an organ donor.  This concept not only will change medical procedures, but will save millions of lives in need for an organ transplant.

The process

Through this idea Dr. Gabor Forgacs, founder of Modern Meadow, is the first to focus on creating cultured meat and leather.  The concept of bioprinting meat is illustrated as follow: “to bioengineer meat, the scientists first get stem cells or other specialized cells from an animal via a common procedure known as biopsy. Stem cells are cells able to replicate themselves many times, and also can turn into other specialized cells. Once the cells multiplied to sufficient numbers, they are put into a bio-cartridge. So instead of traditional ink or a material like plastic, the 3D printer cartridge contains something called bioink made of hundreds of thousands of live cells. Once printed in the desired shape, the bioink particles naturally fuse to form living tissue. This process of bioprinting biomaterials is similar to attempts to print artificial organs for transplants – but the result could well end up in your frying pan.” (This is also illustrated above)

Although the thought of consuming bioengineering meat will bring controversy and critics, it also provides an option to stop/help world hunger, end the inhumane conditions cattle undergo in slather houses and improve environmental conditions. As stated in a 2011 study in the journal Environmental Science and Technology showed that “full-scale production of cultured meat could greatly reduce water, land and energy use, and emissions of methane and other greenhouse gases, compared with conventional raising and slaughtering of cattle or other livestock.” This study is an eye opener because as our population continues to increase our consumption of meat will significantly increase as well. As the figure above shows, today we depend on 60 billion land animals to obtain our meat source, yet by 2050 it is estimated that our meat consumption will double. The question here is will there be enough cattle to feed our growing population in the future? At this point bioprinted meat is an appealing option to investigate.

However we must also think of the conflict, one of them is people’s perceptions of meat being produce in a laboratory rather than a traditional slaughter house. Dr. Forgacs is well aware of this concern and believes is best to introduce consumer to cultured leather first before cultured meat. He hopes people will notice the benefits of cultured leather; this way consumers will have a greater chance of accepting cultured meat.  However although it may be a good strategic way to introduce people to this concept of bioprinting, I believe manufacturing leather is different from creating meat. Meat is food that we consume and leather is a material people can use or wear. Although bioprinting is still at an early life stage, it’s going to be interesting seeing how bioprinting will develop in the future and how human behavior may change completely and adapt to a new way of consuming goods.

For more information use links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1Q2oLxEOF8

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20972018

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/16/peter-thiels-3d-meat_n_1789665.html

http://www.webpronews.com/3d-printed-meat-may-be-the-future-of-food-2013-09

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/science/engineering-the-325000-in-vitro-burger.html?_r=3&hp=&adxnnl=1&pagewanted=all&adxnnlx=1385345223-u2AH8pOFRee0CIH92xwmKA&

Makerspace Experience:

On a regular Wednesday our course took a different route from our usual class time. We had the chance to be creative at Makerspace, the experience was great and I had a lot of fun playing with most of the toys there. Since I was sitting on the Lego table from the beginning of class I decided to give it a try and built something out of Lego’s. When I was a kid I used to play with the jumbo size Lego’s but never with the type of Lego’s that I saw in class. I also didn’t find Lego’s very entertaining as a kid; however after Makerspace I can’t say the same. Playing with Lego’s was actually very intense and fun at the same time because I kept changing my mind in terms of what I wanted to build, so I just began picking up pieces that I thought were “cool” and began putting them together. At first I thought I was building a nightclub then the structure started looking like a jail cell and finally I decide to make a ship. Making the ship with Lego’s was actually more work than I thought because some piece were very small and at times I couldn’t find a certain piece that I need since we had to share the pieces with other students. However I managed to create a decent ship model that I was appease to create. If we were to have more time I would of liked to play around with the origami because it also involves creating and is something I enjoy doing. What I enjoyed the most of playing with Lego’s is the creativity process, I believe as we grow up we lose that sense of being creative and using our imagination. Lego’s enables you to be creative. Overall the whole experience was enjoyable and it gave me a chance to play around with technology that I haven’t seen yet. It also made me realize that technology is expanding faster than ever by creating stuff that are fun and interesting for everyone.

11/11- how to increase my knowledge on the benefits and peoples thoughts of 3D bioprinting meat?

11/18- research what advances has been done with bioprinting meat?

11/25- Try to get in touch with an institution, educator or program that is working on bioprinting. Request if any may be interested in providing an interview for my blog.

12/2- interview people on their thoughts about 3D bioprinting meat.

12/9- research any available data that shows any risks that bioprinting meat can cause to the human body.

12/11- Analyze my findings and determine conclusions.

a cylinder 1 1/8″ diameter and 1 1/8″ high, cut in half the long way

My humble beginnings started with this red block. I picked the half cylinder because I wanted to challenge myself designing it through Sketchup, since this was my first time ever using this design program. However after applying the skills taught in class it was much easier to accomplish my model. The only real problem that I encouraged was figuring out the correct measurement of my block since I had to figure out the radius. To determine this I measured the length and divided it in two to find the radius to be 9/16” for this block. The measurement can be displayed at the bottom right hand corner of Sketchup.

mini obstacle model

This orange obstacle is the second model I was able to create. It’s inspired by the obstacles that I used to enjoy in the park when I was a child. Although the construction of the model is simple it took me some time to adjust the shapes together. It was difficult turning the shapes to fit with the other blocks and to connect with each other.

Meal Cubes are laser-sintered from granulated mealworms

3D design and printing is impacting every industry with this ability to create 2D designs and fabricated it to become a 3D model. Although 3D design and printing is still at an early stage many industries are already using the software to create different prototypes and innovations. One subject that is very interesting is the culinary industry, this industry is also experimenting with 3D printing to be able to create food that is custom made specifically for an individual personal dietary needs. Food will be prepared focusing on the needs of people, this will provided people with ease of consuming food that contain the exact nutrients that their body needs. Rather than consuming different servings of food that may not contain the right amount of nutrients. This can benefit athletes, pregnant woman, seniors and children.

The texture, shape and design of food will change into pieces of art work that can eatable. The flavor of food will also be modified by using alternative ingredients that will be introduced to consumers as a substitute for other ingredients and as ways to experiment with rare condiments like insect’s algae, or glass. Preparing food using this ingratiates brings up the question if people will be willing to try it. NASA for example has recently awarded a $125,000 grant to Anjan Contractor to further explore and develop the application of 3D printing food for astronauts. These will include experiencing creating food that wouldn’t spoil and that contains high nutrients. Anjan hopes this project helps create alternatives for food being that globally we are over populated and our natural sources are limited. These also bring in the idea of simplifying the manufacture of food. It would be interesting to investigate what type of safety hazards and regulations manufacturing 3D printing food will bring.

Another interesting 3D printing experiment is being done by Andreas Forgacs, he is developing the idea of 3D bioprint technology to produce meat.  Basically an animal cell will be processed to become meat that will be printed for humans to consume. This experiment brings many questions into mind for example if processed meat today is associated to be unhealthy. What are the chances that consumers will find 3D printed artificial meat to be any good, taking to count that we are becoming so health conscience? Although these ideas are only being experimented in labs for now, it’s thrilling to know that these innovations might be very soon a part of our daily consumption.

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6WzyUgbT5A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgE_AaWE1M4

http://3dprintingindustry.com/food/

http://3dprintingindustry.com/2013/05/22/nasa-funds-3d-bio-printer-development-to-combat-universal-hunger/

https://www.solveforx.com/moonshots/solve-for-x-andras-forgacs-on-sustainable-scalable-meat

Personally taking this 3D digital design course has been mind blowing. I’m actually glad the class I was registered for previously was canceled, because it gave the opportunity to take this class and discover a different side of printing. For me this class is a preview of what the future holds for all of us and the revolution that 3D printing will bring globally. I’m honored to be one of the few in our campus to observe this innovation that will change businesses and the way we manufacture things on an everyday bases. From the start I have never hear of 3D printing before, this course has made me more aware of future innovations and grab an interest in areas of technology that I wouldn’t normally pay attention or care about. This course has encouraged me to investigate and be more open minded. The book “Makers: The New Industrial Revolution” by Chris Anderson has taught me that ideas can become a reality, even if you don’t consider yourself much of a genius. He also gives important insight to future makers and innovators.

Using Sketchup was a challenge because it’s a software I have never used before in previous art classes, it also requires you to be very creative. Creating some of the shapes was complex, but through trial and error and through video tutorials I was able to create decent shapes. Although it was challenging I plan to continue working on different models to increase my knowledge, and feel more comfortable using Sketchup.

Being that this course involves heavy group work. As a group member I believe we all been able to contribute with brainstorming ideas and coming up with better innovations for our coffee project. I believe my ability to keep us connected by communicating and working as a team, has helped us to get through this project. It can be overwhelming at times, since we all have different responsibilities and priorities. However like all group projects it’s not easy but we try our best.