Scientists have developed a tool made from a modified glue gun that can 3D print bone grafts directly onto fractures and defects during surgery. The tool, described September 5th in the Cell Press journal Device, allows scientists to quickly create complex bone implants without the need for prefabricating in advance. What’s more, the team optimized the 3D-printed grafts for high structural flexibility, release of anti-inflammatory antibiotics, and promotion of natural bone regrowth at the grafting site.

Trial suggests using bedside scans instead of traditional stethoscopes shortens hospitalization and lowers costs.

Genetically engineered cell lines used in biomedical research have long been prone to misidentification and unauthorized use, wasting billions of dollars each year and jeopardizing critical scientific discoveries. These problems not only undermine reproducibility of research results, but also put valuable intellectual property at risk.

Now, researchers at The University of Texas at Dallas have developed a novel method to embed unique genetic identifiers in engineered cell lines, eliminating identification errors and safeguarding innovations with tamper-proof genomic tags.

The team of Riccardo Levato at UMC Utrecht and Utrecht University is now taking an important step toward printing implantable tissues. Using computer vision, a branch of artificial intelligence (AI), they’ve developed a 3D printer that doesn’t just print, it also sees and even co-designs. Their innovation was published today in Nature. With this innovation, they tackle one of the biggest challenges in 3D bioprinting: improving both the survival and functionality of cells in printed living tissue. But how exactly does that work?