Innovation leading development: a glimpse into three-dimensional bioprinting in Israel

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has attracted increasing research interest as an emerging manufacturing technology for developing sophisticated and exquisite architecture through hierarchical printing. It has also been employed in various advanced industrial areas. The development of intelligent biomedical engineering has raised the requirements for 3D printing, such as flexible manufacturing processes and technologies, biocompatible constituents, and alternative bioproducts. However, state-of-the-art 3D printing mainly involves inorganics or polymers and generally focuses on traditional industrial fields, thus severely limiting applications demanding biocompatibility and biodegradability. In this regard, peptide architectonics, which are self-assembled by programmed amino acid sequences that can be flexibly functionalized, have shown promising potential as bioinspired inks for 3D printing. Therefore, the combination of 3D printing and peptide self-assembly potentially opens up an alternative avenue of 3D bioprinting for diverse advanced applications. Israel, a small but innovative nation, has significantly contributed to 3D bioprinting in terms of scientific studies, marketization, and peptide architectonics, including modulations and applications, and ranks as a leading area in the 3D bioprinting field. This review summarizes the recent progress in 3D bioprinting in Israel, focusing on scientific studies on printable components, soft devices, and tissue engineering. This paper further delves into the manufacture of industrial products, such as artificial meats and bioinspired supramolecular architectures, and the mechanisms, physicochemical properties, and applications of peptide self-assembly. Undoubtedly, Israel contributes significantly to the field of 3D bioprinting and should thus be appropriately recognized.

Graphic abstract