Bioink is the material used to produce engineered (artificial) live tissue using 3D printing technology. It can be composed only of cells, but in most cases, an additional carrier material that envelops the cells is also added. This carrier material is usually a biopolymer gel, which acts as a 3D molecular scaffold. Cells attach to this gel, and this enables them to spread, grow and proliferate.
Importantly, the gel can also provide protection to the cells during the printing process. Its importance is so high that the term “bioink” is often commonly used to describe the carrier material alone, irrespective of the cells that may grow on it.
