Biofabrication is a highly interdisciplinary and innovative field of research.

The industrial potential of biofabrication technology is far beyond the traditional medically oriented tissue engineering and organ printing and, in the short term, it is essential for developing potentially highly predictive human cell- and tissue-based technologies for drug discovery, drug toxicity, environmental toxicology assays, and complex in vitro models of human development and diseases. In the long term, biofabrication can also contribute to the development of novel biotechnologies for sustainable energy production in the future biofuel industry and dramatically transform traditional animal-based agriculture by inventing 'animal-free' food, leather, and fur products. Thus, the broad spectrum of potential applications and rapidly growing arsenal of biofabrication methods strongly suggests that biofabrication can become a dominant technological platform and new paradigm for 21st century manufacturing.¹

[1] Biofabrication: a 21st century manufacturing paradigm by V. Mironov, T. Trusk, V. Kasyanov, S. Little, R. Swaja and R. Markwald, Biofabrication 1 (2009) 022001 [DOI 10.1088/1758-5082/1/2/022001]