From 2014.igem.org

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Applications: 3D Printed Culture Scaffolds

Bacterial cellulose is biocompatible and has been shown to promote mammalian cell proliferation effectively without inducing significant pro-inflammatory cytokine production. As a result, the ability to 3D print intricate structures of bacterial cellulose should provide an extremely innovative way to produce effective scaffolds for the 3-dimensional culturing of cells in vitro. 3D printing bacterial cellulose will allow the simple creation of scaffolds which include a vascular structure, a vital part of tissue scaffold creation. This in turn may lead to novel 3-dimensional culturing techniques that can replace the need for animal models in clinical product testing

In the longer term, one can envision using a a JuicyPrint-like method to 3D print tissue scaffold made of cellulose or another extracellular polymer. This could enable the growing of entire organs, perhaps using a digital 3D model from an MRI scan of an existing organ in order to generate the intricate vascular structure required in larger more complex assemblies of tissues.