The technology is the same as that of the simple inkjet printer found in homes and offices, but Japanese scientist Makoto Nakamura is on a mission to see if it can also produce human organs.

The idea is that the printer jets out thousands of cells per second instead of ink droplets, and builds them up into a three-dimensional organ. Nakamura compares the process to building a huge skyscraper on a micro level using different kinds of cells and other materials instead of steel beams, concrete and glass.

The ultimate goal the Japanese scientist is to make a heart. In case of success this would give hope for many patients waiting for heart transplants, as a heart made of cells originating from the patient could eliminate fears that the body would reject it.

The very technology works a bit like dealing with sliced fruit: an organ is cut horizontally, allowing researchers to see an array of cells on the surface. If a printer drops cells one by one into the right spots and repeats the process for many layers, it creates a 3D organ.

Much like a printer chooses different colors, the machine can position different types of cells to drop. The printer can adjust where to drop cells in the order of one-thousandth of a millimeter and produce a tube at a speed of three centimeters per two minutes.

Nakamura dismisses the idea of printing brains or trying to create new life. He says he’s thinking about making superhuman cyborgs. There are simply lives that could be saved if there are organs.

In the future, Nakamura also said the technology could pave the way for bioprinting with stem cells — which could go into building healthy new organs.

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Lexmark added two new additions to its 782 color laser line on Tuesday. The C782n XL and X782e XL printers share similiar features to the C782n and X782e but the new XL printers will feature high-yield ink cartridges that print up to 16,500 pages.

The C782n XL is network ready and can print on a variety of media. It features print speeds up to 35 pages per minute in color and 40 pages per minute in black as well as expandable paper-handling capabilities such as stackable input drawers and the StapleSmart Finisher.

The X782e XL multifunction printer has scanning, copying and faxing capabilities. It offers the same print speeds as the C782n XL and features Lexmark’s e-Task touch screen.

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Dell has updated its printer portfolio to include a new single function color laser and three refreshed printers along with the 11 x 17″ wide format laser printer, a first for Dell.

Dell has updated its printer portfolio to include a new large format printer, a single function color laser and three refreshed printers.

The 7330dn A3 laser printer is an exciting new option for Dell; it is a first in its class. The 11 x 17” printer features up to 50 pages per minute, a monthly duty cycle of 300,000 pages, built-in duplexing, 1200 x 1200 dpi print resolution and first page out in as little as seven seconds.

The other new printer from Dell is the 1230c single function color laser printer. The 1230c offers 17 pages per minute, 2400 x 600 dpi print resolution and a high-duty cycle of 20,000 pages per month.

Dell is also re-releasing three new printers: the 1320c color laser, 2330d and 2330dn monochrome laser printers. The 1320c will be adding networking for the same initial cost of $299.

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Brother has pushed itself up into second place in the laser printer market by producing a wide range of well-made, high-value machines. The HL-6050D is a medium-size workgroup mono laser printer with built-in duplex facilities. It’s reasonably expandable and Brother claims a top speed of 24ppm, so it should be quite quick.

The printer is square-cut, but looks modern, even in its slightly passé cream case. A substantial, 500-sheet paper tray can be supplemented with an optional second one and there’s a 100-sheet, multi-purpose tray, which folds down from the front. Paper feeds to the HL-6050D’s top surface, next to the printer’s controls.

The control panel is simple, but covers all the essentials. There’s a four-way dial for navigating menus and dedicated buttons for starting and cancelling print jobs. The final button is marked Reprint and it’s good to see all the controls are marked with Braille codes, for the sight-impaired.

The Reprint button does what the name suggests; it reprints the last job sent to the printer. This is ideal if you want to print a single copy and proof read it, before completing the rest of the job. It could be a security problem though, if you don’t clear the function after printing a confidential document. There’s no USB socket on the front panel for walk-up printing, which would complement the Reprint function.

The two-line LCD display has a twin-colour led backlight, which switches from green to orange to indicate alerts and errors; a neat solution. The menu system itself is easy to navigate and offers good control of the printer’s functions.

Installing the consumables is straightforward: fold down the front panel and you can slide in the two-part drum and toner cartridge. The drum has a service life of 30,000 pages and each toner cartridge should produce 7,500 ISO pages, so maintenance isn’t going to be a day-to-day affair.

The bundled software includes drivers for PCL and Postscript page description languages, both in emulation, and drivers for Windows, Mac and Linux are available. Ethernet networking is included as standard, together with appropriate monitoring software. Brother also offers an optional wireless adapter, so you can free the machine from a cabled network connection, if you need.

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