All are invited to attend the first campus-wide Research Colloquium on Friday, May 29, with Dr. Ali Ahmadi from the UPEI Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering. This series is intended to feature the innovative, diverse, and multidisciplinary nature of research led by faculty at UPEI, during this time of physical separation. Please register here.

Biofabrication: Science fiction turns into reality?

I am not a big fan of Bruce Willis, but I was fascinated by a scene in his movie, "The Fifth Element", where a device (I assume Hollywood’s version of a 3D bio-printer!) makes body parts and ultimately a whole living human. Ok, we may not need to “print” new humans, but the thought of being able to “print” body parts and organs for people in need is a heartwarming vision. This vision drives my field of research which is called biofabrication, also known as three dimensional bio-printing. Biofabrication aims to build living tissues and organs. The movie showed that the biofabrication technology was available in the year 2263. It may not take another 243 years for us to realize this vision, but we do have an exceptionally long road ahead of us!

So what is biofabrication? Why is it important? Why is it taking so long to biofabricate organs and tissues? What is the role of engineering and other disciplines in this development? And lastly, what are the ethical, social and economical implications of biofabrication?

In this talk, I will discuss these questions with particular emphasis on the important roles of interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaborations in biofabrication technology development.