FIGURE 5.

Use of biofabricated tissues in personalized medicine. (a) In precision medicine for patients with cancer, a potential list of drugs is currently determined based on mutations found in the tumor genetic profile, from which best-guess therapies are prescribed. In the future, cells from tumor biopsies could be used to create in vitro tumor models specific to a given patient. Potentially, effective drug therapies can then be screened in the models, thereby identifying the optimal drug therapy for that patient, both in terms safety and effectiveness. (b) In genetic diseases, cells can be harvested from alternative tissues, such as skin, translated into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC), differentiated into cells of the tissue of interest (e.g., lung or heart), and bioengineered into 3D organoids and organoid-on-a-chip systems, after which generic and genome-specific drug therapies can be screened for the original patient.