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They entered the fountain and bathed four times as prescribed. They
left the fountain rejoicing, and when they returned to Alexander he
could hardly recognize them, so young they were.
2
Despite centuries of searching, no one has yet found the Fountain of Youth.
In modern times, people continue the quest with plastic surgery, replacement
joints, new heart valves, miraculous vitamin supplements and skin creams.
Maybe 3D printing technologies will inally end the search. Printed on-demand
body parts will help people who need an organ transplant, or have failing
joints. People with disposable income will order custom printed body parts
optimized for a beloved recreational activity. The Olympic Committee in the
year 2072 will struggle to to decide whether athletes with bioprinted organs
should be banned from the Games.
3D printed body parts are still the stuff of iction. Today the science of
printing living tissue is just beginning its long ascent up a hypothetical “3D
printed Ladder of Life.”
The holy grail of bioprinting is to 3D-print a functional organ from cell mixture
and biomaterials.
