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Novel bio-ink comprises flake-shape microgels and living cells that can produce cartilage-like tissues and other complex living constructs.

 E-Mail IMAGE: 4D hydrogel-based materials can undergo multiple conformational shape changes in response to environmental cues view more  Credit: Aixiang Ding Tissue engineering has long-depended on geometrically static scaffolds seeded with cells in the lab to create new tissues and even organs. The scaffolding material -- usually a biodegradable polymer structure -- is supplied with cells and the cells, if supplied with the right nutrients, then develop into tissue as the underlying scaffold biodegrades. But this model ignores the extraordinarily dynamic morphological processes th...

 E-Mail IMAGE: The 4D material changes shape in response to water. The grey side of the material in the image absorbs water faster than the blue side, causing it to bend into... view more  Credit: Yu Bin Lee New hydrogel-based materials that can change shape in response to physiological stimuli, such as water, could be the next generation of materials used to bioengineer tissues and organs, according to a team of researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago. In a new paper published in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, the research team -- led by Eben Alsberg, the Ric...