Scientists have developed a silk-based, 3-D printer ink for use in biomedical implants or tissue engineering. Credit: American Chemical Society
Silk bio-ink is useful for more complex tissues with versatile functions eg tissues that can be loaded with pharmaceuticals. In the past finding an ideal bio-ink has stalled more complicated tissue engineering progress till now. Most inks currently being developed for 3D printing are made of thermoplastics, silicones, collagen and gelatin or alginate. But there are limits to how these inks can be used. For example, the temperatures, pH changes and crosslinking methods that may be required to toughen some of these materials can damage cells or other biological components that researchers want to add to the inks.
Silk-based bioinks were developed for...
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