3D printer is step towards making kidneys

THE grand aim of printing a whole human kidney ready for transplant is a step closer, with the arrival of a 3D cell bioprinter in Melbourne.

THE grand aim of one day printing a whole human kidney ready for transplant is a step closer, with the arrival of a 3D cell bioprinter to a Melbourne laboratory.

Murdoch Childrens Research Institute scientists, who in a breakthrough discovery have already grown human “mini kidneys” from stem cells, will first use the printer to create kidney tissue to better understand the mechanisms behind disease and to test promising medications outside the patient.

Head of MCRI’s Kidney Research Laboratory, Professor Melissa Little said given there were 25 types of cells in a human kidney, with each doing a different job, it was a “very challenging” organ to create.

“They’re really delicate structures that only work when all the right cells are in the right place,” Prof Little said.

“We hope we’ll be able to use the stem cells to make the cell types we need to make a kidney.

“Then we can use the printer to place them in the right shape with respect to each other.

“Scaling up — making enough of the right cells in the right places — is a considerable barrier at the moment.”

Audree Shepperbottom, 2, who was diagnosed with cystic kidney disease before she was born. Picture: Lawrence Pinder

Prof Little said given dialysis returned patients just 10-15 per cent of their kidney function, she was hopeful the printer could help them improve diagnosis and find new treatments.

“I hope that within my career, in the next 10-15 years, we’ll start to make transplantable tissue,” she said.

“It’s still a long way from treating kidney disease, but we’ve got the makings of it now.”

The printer, built specifically for MCRI by US research company Organovo and to be unveiled today by Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt, is designed to help patients like three-year-old Audree Shepperbottom.

She has been on dialysis since day three of life after she was born with a rare inherited kidney disease and had her kidneys removed at two weeks of age.

Mum Lisa Lehner said as her daughter waited for a kidney transplant, the cell printer gave families like hers hope of better treatments and ways to diagnose kidney disease.

“Who knows? They might be able to find cures one day,” Ms Lehner said.

“We’re lucky that we got a diagnosis, but many people aren’t. It’s incredible for us.”