All of the above: Examples of things we can build from cells in the future, all possible due to advances in 3-D printing, biotechnology, and demand fueled by shortages of resources and growing population.

“As the diverse fields of biology, design, and digital fabrication collide, we are poised to enter a more efficient, more natural technological revolution,” says the introduction to a new book about this future.

Here are five types of things we’ll be growing from cells, according to Nina Tandon and Mitchell Joachim, co-authors of Super Cells: Building With Biology.





Tandon leads a startup called EpiBone which grows customized bone parts by harvesting cells from a patient, scaffolding them within a bioreactor, then stimulating growth with mechanical forces. It takes three to five weeks for the bone to mature.

In the book, Tandon takes the reader on a tour of several other labs developing anatomical parts: bladders, kidneys, skin, tubes made from human cells. The complex organs aren’t likely to be ready for a decade or two. But grown human cells could soon be useful as drug testing platforms, she says.





Joachim, a New York designer, grows buildings. “I believe we can completely redefine sustainable building,” he says. So far he’s developed two prototypes: one made with living plants and another cultured from pig cells.