The Future Is Faster Than You Think: How Converging Technologies Are Transforming Business, Industries, and Our Lives (Exponential Technology Series)

by Peter H. Diamandis

Biotech and 3-D printing is another intersection. The first 3-D printed prosthetics arrived in 2010. Today, hospitals are rolling them out at scale. In 2018, a Jordanian hospital introduced a program that can fit and build an amputee a prosthetic in twenty-four hours, for less than $20 US. At the same time, because 3-D printers can now print electronics, we’re seeing companies like Unlimited Tomorrow and Open Bionics selling 3-D-printed multi-grip bionic prosthetics at non-bionic prices. And replacement body parts are about to become replacement organs. Back in 2002, scientists at Wake Forest University 3-D printed the first kidney tissue capable of filtering blood and producing urine. In 2010, Organovo, a San Diego–based bioprinting outfit, created the first blood vessel. Today, a company called Prellis Biologics is printing capillaries at record speeds, while Iviva Medical is doing the same with 3-D printed kidneys—which is why 3-D printed organs are predicted to hit the market by 2023.