In Images: Live Cells Printed into Weird Shapes

News
By Tia Ghose
published

Printing cells

Printing live cells

(Image credit: LIdong Qin)

A 2014 paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed a new way to print live cells.

Any shape

cells printed using block-printing method

(Image credit: Lidong Qin)

The new method can print cells into any arbitrary shape and spaced close together or far apart.

Ancient method

chinese characters on printing blocks

(Image credit: B&T Media Group, Inc. | Shutterstock.com)

The team took inspiration for the idea from kids' rubber stamps, which are very similar to the ancient wooden blocks used to print Chinese characters.

Cell array

live cells printed

(Image credit: Lidong Qin)

Unlike past methods that use inkjet printing, almost all the cells printed with this technique survive the printing process.

Glowing ells

fluorescent cells in live cell printing

(Image credit: Lidong Qin)

Here, cells printed into an array glow green.

Multiple cell types

cell printing technology

(Image credit: Lidong Qin)

The new method can be used with multiple cell types

block printing

(Image credit: Lidong Qin)

Here, the cells are printed into multiple shapes

Mini-brain networks

A neuron

(Image credit: Thinkstock.)

The method could be used to more accurately capture communication between neurons, or brain cells.

Tia Ghose
Tia Ghose
Managing Editor

Tia is the managing editor and was previously a senior writer for Live Science. Her work has appeared in Scientific American, Wired.com and other outlets. She holds a master's degree in bioengineering from the University of Washington, a graduate certificate in science writing from UC Santa Cruz and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. Tia was part of a team at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that published the Empty Cradles series on preterm births, which won multiple awards, including the 2012 Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism.