When Was the First 3D-Printed Organ Created?

Bioprinting organs has progressed in stages. In 1999, scientists at Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine implanted the first lab-grown bladder (using a scaffold seeded with the patient's own cells) into a human patient. The first truly 3D-bioprinted organ structure — a small kidney — was demonstrated by Dr. Anthony Atala at a TED talk in 2011 (originally developed around 2003). By 2019, researchers at Tel Aviv University 3D-printed a miniature heart complete with cells, blood vessels, ventricles, and chambers using human tissue. As of 2024, no full-size 3D-printed organ has been transplanted into a human, but bioprinted tissues like skin grafts and ear cartilage have been successfully implanted.