Hasta La Ideas

According to a 2021 survey from Nature, about 54% of the Earth’s tree population is gone and will continue to decline so long as a vast amount of daily products (like furniture, paper and medicine) require cutting down trees for wood. However, a new innovation from researchers at MIT could crucially resolve this. Using cells from the flowering plant known as Zinnia elegans, and treating them with a gel-based medium, researchers were able to bio-print wooden pieces of various shapes and sizes. This lab-grown wood material could prevent deforestation and waste and is currently being further developed using cells of pine trees to 3D-print timber. Learn more about the project at Interesting Engineering.

Image courtesy of Alexei