How ANU’s bioprinting technology is rewiring medical research

According to the Australian National University (ANU), researchers are using 3D bioprinting to revolutionise medical science by printing living cells and creating lab-grown tissues for disease research. Professor Adam Perriman, originally hacking plastic printers in 2015 at the University of Bristol, now leads this cutting-edge work at ANU’s Research School of Chemistry and The John Curtin School of Medical Research.

“Bioprinting is becoming an exciting technique to address really complex problems,” says Professor Perriman. “We’re harnessing the power of robotics and automation to answer questions that you couldn’t answer any other way.”

Using specially developed bioinks, his team prints living tissue structures that grow after printing. One major application is duplicating cancer cells to create realistic models for drug testing and personalised therapies. “If we want to make real progress in reducing cancer deaths, we need to build more holistic representations of cancer in the lab – and we need to do it at scale,” says Dr Johnson, a postdoctoral fellow on the team.

These models not only support research into innovative cell therapies but could also spare millions of animals from lab testing. “There are approximately 200 million animals sacrificed a year for research, and if we can avoid doing that, then we should,” Dr Johnson adds.

Beyond cancer, the ANU team is also exploring bioprinting tissues that could replace stitches for wound healing. The process is faster, cheaper, and more ethical than traditional methods—and it’s already accelerating the development of new treatments.

As for the long-term vision? Printing full organs is still on the horizon. “I think the whole-organ printing is really exciting, and it’s something that’s almost certainly going to happen in the future,” says Professor Perriman. “But it’s still a major challenge to get to that point.”