Cosmetics Company L'Oreal Plans to 3D Print Human Skin for Product Testing

The cosmetics company L’Oreal has partnered with biotechnology company Organovo for a plan to 3D print human skin for product testing. L’Oreal has already been developing artificial human skin grown from cultured cells that they call Episkin, but the innovation of Organovo’s 3D printing human tissues should allow the company to develop the samples more quickly.

Besides the intended use of testing cosmetic products on artificially grown human skin rather than animals, the collaboration could also have important medical benefits in the future, like treating burn victims.

Organovo produced a short video explaining their bioprinting process in 2013, and a video from 2011 explains how L’Oreal produces Episkin without 3D printing.