At a cost of $624, scientists use Lego blocks to build biological 3D printers.

CTOnews.com, April 28 (Xinhua)-- A team of researchers from Cardiff University in the UK have bought several sets of Lego blocks to build a comparable industrial-grade 3D printer at a total cost of $624 (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 4324 yuan). The Lego printer can be printed using a biogel that dissolves human skin cells.

An industrial 3D printer can cost tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the research team came up with the idea of creating it yourself, hoping to print living human tissue at a lower cost. The most expensive parts of this Lego printer are the Lego Mindstorms Smart Block and laboratory pumps.

The nozzle of this 3D printer can create skin tissue in a petri dish layer by layer based on three-dimensional modeling. The team hopes to use different gel ingredients and nozzles of different diameters in the future to replicate human skin tissue as closely as possible.

CTOnews.com attached here a link to a detailed paper about the 3D printer, which can be read by interested users.