Woman receives 3D-printed ear made from her own cells

Doctors successfully transplanted a 3D-printed ear made from human cells onto a woman born with a rare ear deformity, 3DBio Therapeutics, the regenerative medicine company behind the implant announced today in a press release. The transplant was part of the first clinical trial of the technology, and its success marks a major step forward for tissue engineering.

“If everything goes as planned, this will revolutionize the way this is done,” Arturo Bonilla, the ear reconstruction surgeon who led the team performing the procedure, told The New York Times.

Around 1,500 babies born in the United States each year have microtia, a condition where one or both ears are underdeveloped or missing entirely. 3DBio Therapeutics has an ongoing...

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