Israeli Biotech Firm Trying To Print Organs For Transplants

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By Daniel J. Solomon June 13, 2017

Israeli biotech firm CollPlant is trying to patent a technology that that could eventually lead to the three-dimensional printing of hearts, kidneys and other vital human tissues.

CollPlant, based in Ness Ziona, has filed a patent application in the United States for its “bio-ink” – made of a proprietary plant product that mimics the qualities of collagen, a protein responsible for the elasticity of human skin and other organs.

Combined with other hormones and existing human cells, the bio-ink could eventually be used to create organs for those in need – easing pressure on the transplant process, which for the most part relies on harvested organs from the deceased.

“We are promoting commercial collaborations with leading international companies in the field of 3D bio-printing of tissue and organ, with the aim of taking part in providing a solution to the significant need for life saving organs,” Yehiel Tal, CEO of CollPlant, told the Jerusalem Post.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.