Rice University bioengineer Jordan Miller and his students cleared a major hurdle on the path to 3D printing replacement organs when they published a breakthrough technique for bioprinting "multivascular" tissues that was featured on the cover of the journal Science in 2019.

Their innovation allows scientists to bioprint tissues with exquisitely entangled vascular networks for transporting blood, air, lymph, and other vital fluids. The work included a stunning proof-of-principle demonstration: a hydrogel model of a lung-mimicking air sac that was rhythmically filled and emptied of air, simulating inhalation and exhalation. A basket-like network of blood vessels surrounded the air sac but did not physically touch it. As deoxygenated blood flowed past the air sac, red blood cells became oxygenated from air that diffused from the sac to the nearby blood vessels.

Jordan joins us today to talk about these innovative movements forward.

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Bonus
How Your Diet Affects Your Risk for Cancer