In this dynamic and wide-ranging interview, Women in 3D Printing interviews Amy Karle. Topics include Karle's background and why she got into 3D printing, medical futuring / bioprinting replacement parts / bioethics, and how art and exponential technology can be used for the best and highest good of humanity, ecology, evolution and the planet.
As part of the "first ever all female speaker 3D printing conference", industry leaders Amy Karle, Chengxi Wang, Jenny Chen and Laura Kastenmayer discuss "Pushing the Limits of Additive Manufacturing in Healthcare" including: creativity and innovation; accessibility, education, collaboration; digital & additive manufacturing to support ending the covid-19 pandemic; how panelists would ultimately push AM in healthcare if the sky's the limit
Satori CEO Chengxi Wang and BioArtist Amy Karle discuss how 3D printing is affecting biotech, and how this affects what is might mean to be human. Amy Karle also shares how accessible 3D printing is becoming as we discuss the importance of a variety of perspectives in the 3D printing industry.
… I’m either fighting an uphill battle or I’m doing it against all odds – maybe both” Amy Karle stated “We are at a very exciting time in history. 3D printing offers opportunities to create in new ways, for healing, enhancing and augmenting the body in ways we’ve never been able to before. I’m most excited about applying additive manufacturing with other technologies to medical uses… to heal and enhance our bodies, minds and beings. I get really excited about bioprinting because it holds the promise of being able to create organs and replacement parts out of a patient’s own…
“I was creating artwork with parametric and generative digital design to create forms, but it felt like there was something I could tap inherent with more mystery and surprises in the real world. So I looked within the body, at how cells articulate into different forms – what makes a cell become a beating heart, skin, or bone.” – Amy Karle
An artist aims to grow a human hand design from stem cells. She worked with scientists to design a trellis made of a hydrogel that will form an armature for the cells. Karle and her team is now culturing stem cells from bone marrow to add to the trellis, where she hopes they will grow into our signature body part.
Interesting results are anticipated [from Karle’s piece Regenerative Reliquary], although it will probably take years to see them, but this type of development is what anticipates the relationship between 3D printing and the organs of the future. (translated)
Amy Karle decided to grow a human hand from stem cells as part of one of her projects. Initially, she planned to create a whole skeleton in this way, but so far she decided to restrict herself to just a hand.
It all started because Amy Karle wanted to grow her own exoskeleton. But after experimenting with 3-D printing bones while Artist in Residence at Autodesk, she set her sights on something a little smaller and more intimate. She decided to grow a human hand design.
“A major portion of this artwork that I'm creating is the cells that I use. I consider: what does it mean for this piece to have human cells growing and proliferating outside of the body? My mother was a research scientist and I grew up in the lab with her. I feel inspired by her whenever I do this kind of work. She has passed away now, but I consider what would it mean if I could use her cancer cells in this piece and they could live on?" –Amy Karle
As technology and the body become increasingly connected both in our daily lives and more significantly through medical research, Karle’s project is an important one. On a personal level as well.
