SV3DPrinter

3D Printing for Humanity

Posted on July 31, 2018 Updated on July 26, 2018

According to 3D Printing for Humanity, The Santa Clara University’s Department of Bioengineering Assistant Professor Prashanth Asuri and students Sabrina Cismas, Jeffrey Kunkel, William Leineweber, Casey O’Brien, and Mallory Williams,” how engineers are using 3D printing to mitigate the negative side effects of cancer treatment on patients by delivering a pro-drug (a biologically inactive, nontoxic agent that can be metabolized to create a drug) to the entire body and then implanting 3D bioprinted enzymes near the site of the tumor to catalyze the pro-drug into a biologically active chemical compound that will kill the cancerous cells in that particular area without harming the rest of the body. The experiment was well received and the kids asked a lot of good questions—some about how this is being done now, which is hard to answer since the process is still in research; but they were engaged and grasping the concept”.

https://www.scu.edu/engineering/stories/engineering-news-fall-2014/bioengineers-bring-3d-tech-to-the-tech.html