'Printing' human organs with 3D bio-printer

21 February 2011 Last updated at 00:26 ET Help

US researchers at Cornell University have engineered an ear made of silicone using a 3D printer, which they hope will one day be capable of producing functional human body parts.

Hod Lipson, the director of the Computational Synthesis Laboratory at the university, has been testing the 3D printer as a means of producing synthetic heart valves.

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