A massive number of corals have been dying throughout the globe. Thus, a couple of researchers tried using 3-D printing technology to resemble their complex shapes that could possibly allow for new corals and other animals to grow on.
The resulting bioprinted structure is an ideal home for the algae, producing growth rates many times the speed of an ordinary medium. That doesn’t mean the next step is growing corals super-fast — in fact, there’s no reason to think this will actually lead to coral restoration. On the other hand, this type of simulation could lead to a better understanding of the ecosystem in which the coral-algae partnership thrives, and how it can be nurtured.
In the meantime, the promise of multiplying algae growth speeds has commercial appeal today, and a startup called Mantaz has been founded to pursue more near-term uses of the technology.
Some say that 3D printing is the future. Well, that might be true for this one.
Image Credits: Cambridge University