Bioprinting
Bioprinting is an essential technology in the colonies, allowing for the production of food and other resources on demand given necessary building materials. Bioprinting is accomplished through a combination of two technologies: advanced 3D printing and Industrial Cells.
Industrial Cells
Industrial Cells are a form of Nanotechnology, using custom made single celled organisms tailored for certain tasks. Industrial Cells, as the name suggests, were originally developed for industrial tasks such as breaking down harmful waste or assisting in terraforming by performing crucial life support functions like oxygen recycling. Industrial Cells were later adopted for medical purposes as well, such as anti-cancer therapies and the treatment of certain genetic disorders. Industrial Cells are a powerful tools, but due to their nature as living organisms they do not survive outside of specific environments, both as a matter of neccessity and by design. This means that while a form of nanotechnology, there are many things that Industrial Cells cannot accomplish. Most Industrial Cell functions are extensions or imitations of natural cellular processes designed with specific intent. Most manufacturing is done the old fashioned way. Industrial Cells are heavily used in material recycling, such as the process that breaks down and sorts organic matters into Stock which is used by Bioprinters to make new things with them. It is expect that, when you die, your body will be committed to the recycler to keep the artifical ecosystems of space travel alive. Grades of Bioprinting There are two general grades of Bioprinting available outside of a research lab: medical grade and food grade. Food grade mostly just uses advanced 3D printing, assembling consumable stock by combining protiens, fats, and carbohydrates derived from stock and building the food layer by layer. This often does not physically resemble the original food that the recipe is based on, both does to the limits of the printer and sidegrade materials. A "steak", for example, would most likely be built out of egg and fish protiens, since cows are generally not available in space. Food grade bioprinters are not designed to create complex living tissue designed for transplants. Medical Grade Bioprinting makes use of Industrial Cells as well as the 3D printing elements, and this has a much wider array of options. This can be used to create replacement organs, or with the rigth setup can even build entire new limbs to graft on to a subject. Medical Grade Bioprinters can be used to make food as well, though it is an extravagant use of a valuable technology so its associated with the excesses of the wealthy. Medical Grade Bioprinters can make a MUCH better steak, essentially producing muscle tissue so that you can cook and eat it, but the cost to do so is much higher than a Food-Grade printed steak. Medical Grade Bioprinters also use an expanded set of Stock to feed its production. The materials you use to make fake lettuce and chicken are not the same as what you use to make a human arm.
Industrial Cells are a form of Nanotechnology, using custom made single celled organisms tailored for certain tasks. Industrial Cells, as the name suggests, were originally developed for industrial tasks such as breaking down harmful waste or assisting in terraforming by performing crucial life support functions like oxygen recycling. Industrial Cells were later adopted for medical purposes as well, such as anti-cancer therapies and the treatment of certain genetic disorders. Industrial Cells are a powerful tools, but due to their nature as living organisms they do not survive outside of specific environments, both as a matter of neccessity and by design. This means that while a form of nanotechnology, there are many things that Industrial Cells cannot accomplish. Most Industrial Cell functions are extensions or imitations of natural cellular processes designed with specific intent. Most manufacturing is done the old fashioned way. Industrial Cells are heavily used in material recycling, such as the process that breaks down and sorts organic matters into Stock which is used by Bioprinters to make new things with them. It is expect that, when you die, your body will be committed to the recycler to keep the artifical ecosystems of space travel alive. Grades of Bioprinting There are two general grades of Bioprinting available outside of a research lab: medical grade and food grade. Food grade mostly just uses advanced 3D printing, assembling consumable stock by combining protiens, fats, and carbohydrates derived from stock and building the food layer by layer. This often does not physically resemble the original food that the recipe is based on, both does to the limits of the printer and sidegrade materials. A "steak", for example, would most likely be built out of egg and fish protiens, since cows are generally not available in space. Food grade bioprinters are not designed to create complex living tissue designed for transplants. Medical Grade Bioprinting makes use of Industrial Cells as well as the 3D printing elements, and this has a much wider array of options. This can be used to create replacement organs, or with the rigth setup can even build entire new limbs to graft on to a subject. Medical Grade Bioprinters can be used to make food as well, though it is an extravagant use of a valuable technology so its associated with the excesses of the wealthy. Medical Grade Bioprinters can make a MUCH better steak, essentially producing muscle tissue so that you can cook and eat it, but the cost to do so is much higher than a Food-Grade printed steak. Medical Grade Bioprinters also use an expanded set of Stock to feed its production. The materials you use to make fake lettuce and chicken are not the same as what you use to make a human arm.
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