8 Times Science Did The Impossible

2. 3D Printing Living Tissue

For those who follow this kind of thing even remotely closely, the idea of creating living tissue in a lab, artificially growing organs and harnessing the power of 3D printing is getting dangerously close to run-of-the-mill, but this is a concept that was firmly in the realms of science fiction or even fantasy until ridiculously recently.

One of the latest in the long line of developments in this field, is the creation of a "bio ink" by scientists at the University of Bristol, made from a mixture of natural and synthetic polymers. The ink can be used in an adapted benchtop 3D printer and can be assembled into complex, three-dimensional living structures through which a patient's own stem cells can be seeded to produce a perfect, matching, living organ. The team have successfully managed to produce a full-sized tracheal cartilage ring.

Unlike technologies such as teleportation and antimatter production, which are currently in the "I wish" phase of development, the ability to grow organs outside of the body will revolutionise medicine in our lifetimes, and even save many of our lives - not bad for something that seemed impossible just 50 years ago.