Oct. 21, 2008 — The technology is the same as that of the simple inkjet printer found in homes and offices, but Japanese scientist Makoto Nakamura is on a mission to see if it can also produce human organs.

The idea is for the printer to jet out thousands of cells per second — rather than ink droplets — and to build them up into a three-dimensional organ.

“It would be like building a huge skyscraper on a micro level using different kinds of cells and other materials instead of steel beams, concrete and glass,” he said in Toyama, Japan.

“Ultimately I hope to make a heart,” said Nakamura, professor at the graduate school of science and technology for research at the state-run University of Toyama.

While Nakamura says it would take him some 20 years to develop a heart, the feat could pave the way to mass produce “good hearts” for patients waiting for transplants.

A heart made of cells originating from the patient could eliminate fears that the body would reject it.

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