Bioprinting has long been praised as a groundbreaking tool for advancing regenerative medicine, drug testing, and tissue engineering. But despite its immense potential, the high cost of bioprinters has kept this technology out of reach for many researchers and educators. That’s about to change, thanks to a new innovation from Stanford University’s Skylar-Scott Lab: the Printess. This $250 modular and open-source bioprinter is designed to democratize bioprinting worldwide.
Developed under the leadership of Mark Skylar-Scott, one of the most renowned names in bioprinting, the Printess promises to transform how researchers and educators interact with this technology. It’s more than just a low-cost printer; it’s a tool engineered for accessibility, customization, and scalability.
Breaking Down Barriers…with a $250 Price Tag
To understand the importance of the Printess, it’s key to consider that professional-grade bioprinters can cost anywhere from $10,000 to upwards of $200,000, with some machines costing even more. For most research labs (especially smaller ones or those in resource-limited settings), these costs are out of reach. Instead, the Printess shatters this barrier with its $250 price tag, making it possible for almost any lab to integrate bioprinting into their research workflows.
Skylar-Scott and his team of researchers say this price point is achieved through a bottom-up design approach. The Printess is constructed entirely from 3D printed and off-the-shelf components. Its modular architecture ensures that researchers can tailor the printer to their specific needs, whether scaling up for larger projects or adjusting the resolution for intricate work. The design is open-source, with all files, instructions, and even a how-to video available at printess.org. The open-source approach makes it easy for people around the world to use and improve it.
Despite its low cost, the Printess doesn’t compromise on functionality. It supports advanced direct ink writing (DIW) techniques, including multimaterial DIW for printing with multiple materials to create complex, functional structures. It also enables multimaterial active mixing DIW, combining different materials during printing. Multimaterial multinozzle 3D (MM3D) printing uses multiple nozzles to accelerate high-throughput printing, while multinozzle-embedded 3D printing allows the creation of high-throughput parts embedded within other materials.
These capabilities make The Printess suitable for a wide range of applications, from bioprinting soft tissues to developing new biomaterials for research. What’s more, its compact design allows it to fit inside a biosafety cabinet for sterile printing, and it can even serve as a personal printer for individual researchers.
A Tool for Education and Collaboration
Professor Mark Skylar-Scott. Image courtesy of Stanford University.
The Printess isn’t just a research tool; it’s also an educational powerhouse. Skylar-Scott’s lab has already built dozens of these printers to support teaching and research at Stanford. In courses like Bioengineering 261 (BIOE261): 3D Bioprinting Laboratory, students receive kits to assemble their own Printess devices, gaining valuable hands-on experience with bioprinting technology.
This approach to teaching bioprinting aligns with Skylar-Scott’s philosophy, as he shared in a social media post: “3D bioprinting should be an accessible and modular tool for engineers, scientists, and educators alike. It should be as easy to access as a PCR machine or an FDM 3D printer.”
By making the Printess open-source, the Skylar-Scott Lab fosters a collaborative environment where researchers and educators can adapt and improve the printer for their unique needs. This incredible spirit of innovation and sharing ensures that the technology will continue to evolve.
The implications of the Printess are vast. By lowering the entry cost for bioprinting, this innovation opens doors for researchers in underfunded labs, educators in developing countries, and even hobbyists exploring bioprinting at home. It removes the cost barrier that has limited who can participate in bioprinting research and development for a long time.
What’s more, the Printess is a great example of how open-source hardware can drive scientific progress, which is part of the Skylar-Scott Lab’s commitment to the open-source movement.
Photograph of the assembled Printess with two mounted syringes. Image courtesy of Stanford’s Skylar-Scott Lab.
How to Build Your Own Printess
The Skylar-Scott Lab has made all the necessary resources to build a Printess that is freely available online through its printess.org website, which provides an overview of the printer’s capabilities and applications. The team has also published a paper in the journal Advanced Materials with details into the technical insights. Files and a comprehensive instruction manual are downloadable on GitHub. Plus, there is an instructional video, complete with step-by-step guidance on how to build it.
By prioritizing accessibility, modularity, and community collaboration, the Skylar-Scott Lab sets a new standard for developing and sharing scientific tools. It reminds us that sometimes, the most powerful innovations aren’t the most expensive or complex—they’re the ones designed to be shared.
As this $250 bioprinter finds its way into labs and classrooms around the world, it’s likely to inspire a new wave of discoveries and applications in bioprinting.
