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What do you get when you mix biotechnology with your Inkjet printer?

A lot of awesome that’s what.

H+ Magazine recently featured a great article on bioprinting, but its just one aspect of fabrication that is likely going to be an emerging trend in the early 21st century.  Gone are the days where you are stuck printing documents.  Now you will have the ability to print 3D objects, and even living tissues if you desire.  One day it might just fit on your desktop.

Biofabrication is an exciting area for engineers, and the applications span across creating next generation solar materials, electronics fabrication (Iike a screen you could roll up or even fold into your pocket), and obviously a variety of medical applications.  This is especially true if these systems are completely biodegradable, or fit into a Cradle to Cradle product cycle. Perhaps the best benefit of biofabrication is that cellular systems are wonderful at assembling molecular machinery, thereby giving access to a much smaller level of design and engineering precision.

Recent findings published in Advanced Functional Materials highlight a Harvard team lead by researcher David Right where they demonstrated creating biologically active 2D surfaces using a bioprinter.  Using these methods it may provide a path to solveing design problems experienced using traditional lithography techniques, like these Self Aligned Imprint Lithography (SAIL) screens produced by HP and the Flexible Display Center at Arizona State University.

3D designs and applications are certainly going to emerge somewhere soon.  Eliminate the need for a clean room and it becomes exponentially accessible. Of course if you thought the guy hawking the counterfeit Chanel bags in the alley market was bad, what happens in an age of desktop biofabrication?

Still, trends appear to show us a future where some DIY designer could print a bio-based video fabric from the comfort of their bedroom, download some animation software and hit the club.  Mobile devices are great, but a ubiquitous web where screens are embedded in almost every surface seems so much cooler.

In the meantime, I’m going to predict an increase in sales of the infamous Geto Boys classic, “Still” among scientists, as I’m reasonably certain that early models of fabricators are finding their way to a field or two just like in Office Space.