IF YOU want to create artificial organs or a sophisticated biosensor, Bradley
Ringeisen has just the thing. Think of it as a laser-powered pen that uses
biological cells for its ink supply.
There are several ways to deposit thin layers of cells needed to build
artificial organs. But arranging the materials in precise patterns is tough. So
Ringeisen, a physical chemist at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington DC,
decided to see if he could exploit a laser deposition technique he’d been
working on—for making chemical weapons sensors—for laying down
precise patterns of cells.
NRL’s technique, called matrix-assisted pulsed-laser evaporation direct write…
