Mini-kidneys bioprinted for toxicology research and treatment developments

Researchers from the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (Parkville, Australia) and Organovo (CA, USA) have 3D bioprinted mini-kidneys. The team claims the mini-kidneys could be used for kidney failure research, or even for the development of lab-grown transplant tissues. As described in Nature Materials, the mini-kidneys were validated by toxicity screening aminoglycosides, a class of antibiotics that are known to cause damage to the kidneys, as Melissa Little, Professor at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, explained: "We found increased death of particular types of cells in the kidneys treated with aminoglycosides." The team further demonstrated how the extrusion-based 3D bioprinting technique...