3D-printed human brain tissue works like the real thing

Red and green, 3D reconstructed view of the printed brain tissue under the microscope showing different tissue layers against a black background with a scale reference in the bottom right-hand corner of the image denoting 25 micrometers.

For the first time, scientists have generated functional human brain tissue using a 3D printer.

Scientists printed the tissue to be less than 0.01 inch (0.02 centimeter) thick, and it contains both nerve cells and supporting cells called glia. All of these cells can communicate with one another and form networks, as they would in a real human brain.