Researchers at Cornell University have taken a first step toward one day growing customized new ears for children born with malformed ones, or people who lose one to accident or disease, the Huffington Post reported.
In a study published online Feb. 20 in PLOS One, Cornell biomedical engineers and Weill Cornell Medical College physicians described how 3-D printing and injectable gels made of living cells can fashion ears that are practically identical to a human ear. Over a three-month period, these flexible ears grew cartilage to replace the collagen that was used to mold them, according to Cornell.
Photo courtesy of Lindsay France/Cornell University Photography
