3D printing means revolution in evolution

3D printing technology is directed towards transforming every major industry and changing the way we live in the future. In 50 to 75 years life on Earth will hardly be recognizable and will have improved due to the advancements of 3D printing. The world as we know it will change forever. But that‘s only for the good.

2016 was an important leap for 3D printing. From the very first approved 3D printed drug to 3D printed body structures that were successfully implanted in animals. The technology advanced so rapidly, some labs in the world have already started testing 4D printing.

In search of the missing link

Human evolution has always been based on developing better and better tools. First, we lived in caves and built tools with stones, then metal as a material emerged and changed everything. At first, the tools were made using only bare hands; then machines were built. They needed to be bigger in order to make better and stronger tools. 

Now everything seems to be changing and getting a lot simpler. As 3D printing technology emerges, it comes to as simple as just modeling your tool in a virtual world and printing it out.

As we speak of evolution, 3D printing brings us closer to understanding how we evolved and could help find the missing links of human history that have been missing for thousands of years. 

"A reconstruction of Homo Naledi presented during the announcement made in Magaliesburg, South Africa, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2015. Scientists say they've discovered a new member of the human family tree, revealed by a huge trove of bones in a barely accessible, pitch-dark chamber of a cave in South Africa, showing a surprising mix of human-like and more primitive characteristics". 

This major discovery might have never happened without the help of 3D printing.

Helping the humanity

Although 3D printing related news sometimes seems like taken from a plot of a futuristic sci-fi movie, it is well within our grasp. 3D printing can now print three-dimensional objects ranging from food, homes, organs, medical devices, clothing and much more. Moreover, 3D printing now has a significant impact on how industries conduct business. And the technology is rapidly developing further.

3D printing might be a key to solving hunger in the world. Some time ago NASA granted a Systems and Materials Research corporation to develop a pizza printer. And this is only one major example. The bigger picture of this might be to greatly reduce world hunger. According to scientists, "using nutritionally complete cartridges of powder and oils that can be stored for decades, developing countries will be able to print nutrition-dense foods that aren’t dependent on circumstances such as weather, crop availability, and location." 

And that's just the beginning. 3D printing will seriously affect such industries as housing, and housing will also become more available. In China, there is already a technology of building low-cost homes with recycled materials. 10 houses in a day cost around $5000. "The potential for this is great in developing countries, where homes could be made fast and affordable to help alleviate the housing crisis caused by lack of space or rising populations."

In a modern technology based world helping science is one of the most major roles of society. Helping scientists make their discoveries could lead to even more advanced and improved technology, 3D printing is not an exception.

There are 3D printers which print 3D tools for labs and scientific experiments. But one of the most important achievements is 3D printing in zero gravity.

Transporting items to space is very expensive and astronauts on the International space station (ISS), for example, have to wait for the next mission in order to get all of the tools or figure out alternative solutions. 3D printers help solve this problem now. Another huge step is 3D printing on other planets. Experts claim the best way to help Mars colonies survive is to bring them 3D printers. That could work for tools as well as for shelters, food, and clothing.

Controversies encourage debates

3D printing evolution can go both ways. Some experts claim, there are a few controversies following the development of 3D printing technology.

Experts express concerns because 3D printing is also very reliable on plastic. Due to increasing air pollution across the globe, one of the biggest tasks of the environmentalists is to reduce the reliance on plastic. 3D printers often use plastic filament, to be more precise, ABS filament. Machines leave unused plastic that is not biodegradable and/or reused. 

However, other experts tend to disagree with these arguments. They say, 3D printing technology is improving every day, more and more printers use recycled plastic and many companies that develop those technologies openly declare ecological approach and encourage users to be aware of the environment. The absolute majority of plastics used today are non-biodegradable. But these plastics can be recycled into filaments used for 3D printing. 

Actually, according to a research done by a Michigan university, in some cases recycling using 3D printers uses far less energy than standard methods. Also, according to a science-based method LCA, "the relatively low energy cost of plastics and its main production process, injection molding, make the old-fashioned process the most environmentally friendly option in many cases. However, with energy-intensive materials and for specific uses, 3D printing could provide important savings". 

Another opposing argument against experts who might be concerned if 3D printers are energy sufficient is that we live in times when 3D printers can soon print cars or other more massive things in one piece. This will definitely improve the efficiency of assembly lines as well as lessen the waste produced in the industries.

There is a huge debate going on in the world right now: who has to be held responsible for actions of autonomous cars, for example. Same goes to 3D printing. If a person 3D prints a gun and harms or kills another person or people, who is to be held accountable? Or what happens if some 3D printed detail for a car breaks down and injures someone? Is it the owner of the printer, the manufacturer or the person who might have used a 3D printed detail or thing not the way it was supposed to be used?

Affordable advanced medicine is on the way

As the 3D printing technology improves, there are more and more ways it can be used to our advantage. It comes as no surprise that things such as bioprinting have already begun.

3D printing offers great opportunities for medicine. It can potentially improve medical treatments and conditions from bone cancer to hearing loss. 

3D printing already allows printing artificial bones and limbs. Last year Australian scientists managed to 3D print skull implants. "Researchers at the University of Sydney have begun printing templates of missing skull pieces and successfully trialing them on patients with injuries from the size of a 20 cent piece up to 40 percent of a patient's skull missing". This costs only 300 dollars which compared to other similar procedures can be over 10 times cheaper. Researchers stated there is also a potential to 3D print replacements for a whole body.

The future, according to experts is bright for 3D printing in medicine. Researchers are already on the way to print living bone cells from patient's own cells or organs from transplants. And most importantly – it will be a lot cheaper, therefore, more affordable than traditional medicine.

3D printing related treatments are the most effective in cases where conditions affect patients not in standardized ways, for example, conditions that affect growing bones of children. Their bodies change so rapidly, traditional medicine nowadays cannot always offer the best option. But because 3D treatments can be personalized that could be a huge step forwards in terms of guaranteeing a child's comfort and a fulfilling childhood.

One of the major concerns about the development of medicine is the cost of treatments. The disparities between the rich and the poor have been increasing. That, of course, affects medicine. In most of the cases 3D printing brought down consumption of time and various other costs, so this technology can also substantially reduce the costs in medicine as well. Especially when it comes to the costs of prosthetic or orthopedic surgery to restore lost structures. There‘s already a few startups that offer 3D printed prosthetic limbs. 

It is also safe. Most of the materials used in 3D printing to replace bones are tested and used before (e.g. titanium). The future of 3D treatments is widely associated with stem cells and the development of 3D printed organs. 

Cloning... should we be worried?

This is where the debates start. Printing parts of a human body, of course, raises ethical dilemmas. 3D printing, as it was mentioned, can develop replacements for human organs and bones. Could it also be used to develop human capacities beyond what is normal for human beings, asks professor Susan Dodds of the University of Tasmania. 

She argues, if we can replace our bones, can't we replace them with stronger and more flexible ones? Bones that are less likely to break? Or advanced muscles? Or lungs capable of oxygenating blood more efficiently, even in more polluted environments?

3D human tissue printing can lead to creating stronger humans, far beyond what is naturally possible. If this happens, the enhancement of human capacities could be associated with military use. Imagine an army of super-soldiers who are less likely to be wounded or killed in the battle.

Cloning is another highly controversial issue. How long before a person can print a 3D replacement? 3D printing technology is far from cloning, but it is one of the fastest developing technologies nowadays. As the technology advances, as soon as printing functioning human body parts and organs will be available, we will be just a thin line away from cloning.