Human Fabrication: Ethical and Legal Aspects of 3D Bioprinting

3D bioprinting of human tissues and organs for the treatment or replacement of diseased body parts is widely recognized as key driver of the so-called 4 th industrial revolution.Indeed, bioprinting is coming to play the role of game changer in current and future medical practices by making available unique tissues and organs for personalized regeneration or transplantation.However, this technology raises controversial issues in ethical and legal terms.From a speculative perspective, the bio-fabrication poses the question to re-think the human nature in relation to its capacity to generate new species and immortal life.From a practical viewpoint, it rises the problem to rework or establish new ethical and regulatory frameworks governing traditional informed consent, privacy protection and intellectual property rights.This article navigates these ethical and legal challenges with the aim to outline the international debate on the potential of 3D bioprinting to foster human fabrics.