The Methuselah Foundation's Bioprinting Program
The Methuselah Foundation was an early investor in tissue engineering company Organovo, and continues to have a strong interest in accelerating progress in this field through initiatives like the New Organ programs. A while back the Methuselah Foundation kicked off their 3D bioprinter program in collaboration with Organovo, putting bioprinters into academic departments where they can be used to speed up the development of new tissue engineering methodologies. At some point in the decades ahead the research community will be capable of rapidly printing or growing near any type of tissue using a patient's own cells, and the aim here is to help bring that day closer.
Organovo, a three-dimensional biology company focused on delivering scientific and medical breakthroughs using its 3D bioprinting technology, today announced a collaboration with the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute, The Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia to develop an architecturally correct kidney for potential therapeutic applications. The collaboration has been made possible by a generous gift from the Methuselah Foundationas part of its ongoing University 3D Bioprinter Program. "Partnerships with world-class institutions can accelerate groundbreaking work in finding cures for critical unmet disease needs and the development of implantable therapeutic tissues. This collaboration is another important step in this direction. With the devoted and ongoing support of the Methuselah Foundation, leading researchers are able to leverage Organovo's powerful technology platform to achieve significant breakthroughs."
We have developed an approach for recreating human kidney tissue from stem cells," said the Theme Director of Cell Biology at Murdoch Childrens Research Institute. "Using Organovo's bioprinter will give us the opportunity to bioprint these cells into a more accurate model of the kidney. While initially important for modelling disease and screening drugs, we hope that this is also the first step towards regenerative medicine for kidney disease. We are very grateful to Organovo and the Methuselah Foundation for this generous support, which will enable us to advance our research with the first Organovo bioprinter in the southern hemisphere." Under Methuselah Foundation's University 3D Bioprinter Program, Methuselah is donating at least $500,000 in direct funding to be divided among several institutions for Organovo bioprinter research projects. This funding will cover budgeted bioprinter costs and key aspects of project execution.
Link: http://ir.organovo.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=254194&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=2239263