The Importance Of Bioprinting

Being able to craft a new organ out of a patient’s own cells that is guaranteed to be a perfect match and could be made to order, sounds like a beautiful, unmanageable fantasy especially to those like me who have watched a loved one go through the never-ending process of getting an organ transplant. Bioprinting could one day turn that seemingly impossible dream into a reality and completely revolutionize the world of organ transplants. I can imagine the years of my father having to deal with the limitations put on his life by dialysis disappearing and the stress of waiting for a perfect match it lifted off our shoulders. Though of course fully-functioning organs are extremely complex and may not be printed for years, every researcher tackling the problem brings bioprinted organs closer to reality. I want to be a part of that revolution. I want to give some relief to families like mine who will have to face the necessity of organ transplants in the future. …show more content…
However, the memories and costs of his kidney failures have stayed with me and my family. I remember how my father was hooked up to a dialysis machine every night and how he had to dump out his own waste every morning. Most poignantly, I remember the night that my mother came to tell me that there had been a match, after a few years on dialysis, but that they had to choose whether or not to accept it. The match had been a frequent drug user, which meant the kidneys were probably damaged, but if my dad did not accept it then there was no guarantee that he would not have to wait for years more before another match was