{"id":28983,"date":"2021-04-14T14:00:15","date_gmt":"2021-04-14T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=28983"},"modified":"2021-04-14T13:37:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-14T13:37:34","slug":"ulvan-seaweed-bioink-wound-healing-140420215","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/ulvan-seaweed-bioink-wound-healing-140420215\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists use Ulvan from Seaweed to Develop Bioink with Wound Healing Abilities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Scientists have developed a novel bioink for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-bioprinting-cancer-research160620174\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">3D bioprinting<\/a> which could play an important role in wound healing. This ability is thanks to the addition of a particular strain of the molecular species ulvan, a type of seaweed, which possesses a structure comparable to human skin. Ulvan is able to regulate the function of cells in producing key biomolecules used during wound healing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cWound healing occurs in a 3D environment involving a number of cell types and biomolecules, so the use of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printed-bone\/\">3D bioprinting<\/a> to create scaffolds for wound healing has attracted much attention,\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterial Science (ACES) Director Professor Wallace explains. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHere we have formulated a bioink for 3D bioprinting, containing ulvan and discovered that the presence of it assists in the proliferation of cells involved in wound healing.\u201d<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_28991\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28991\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28991\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Gordon-Wallace_1920x1080.jpg\" alt=\"Ulvan\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Gordon-Wallace_1920x1080.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Gordon-Wallace_1920x1080-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/Gordon-Wallace_1920x1080-160x90.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-28991\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> ACES Director Professor Gordon Wallace. (Photo credit: University of Wollongong)<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Researchers first isolated an ulvan type polysaccharide from a cultivated source of a specific Australian Ulvacean macroalgae (Ul84), before adding it to a traditional gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) based bioink. Ul84 resembles the glycosaminoglycans found in mammals which play a role in wound healing and tissue matrix structure and function. The ulvan acts as \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">molecular reinforcement in 3D printed scaffolds\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. This is an important feature in preventing structure contraction, and thus minimizes scarring during wound healing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><div class=\"dnati-inside-article-leaderboard\" style=\"text-align: center;\" id=\"dnati-2855940571\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/app.swapcard.com\/login\/event\/additiv-defense-2026\/ticket\/VGlja2V0VHlwZV83MDM4MQ==\/page\/UmVnaXN0cmF0aW9uRm9ybV81NjE4Ng==\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"LB (4)\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/LB-4.gif\" alt=\"\"  width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Titled <em>\u20183D bioprinting dermal-like structures using species-specific ulvan\u2019<\/em>, the study was conducted by researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterial Science (ACES) and University of Wollongong (UOW) in collaboration with Venus Shell Systems. The team included ACES Director Professor Gordon Wallace and researchers Associate Professor Stephen Beirne, Dr Zhilian Yue and Xifang Chen, as well as Venus Shell System\u2019s Dr Pia Winberg and stem cell biologist Professor Yan-Ru Lou from Fundan University.<\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_28992\" style=\"width: 710px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-28992\" class=\"size-full wp-image-28992\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/ED5F57A5-465A-4D05-9FBD-7C591CF2CDD3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"700\" height=\"394\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/ED5F57A5-465A-4D05-9FBD-7C591CF2CDD3.jpg 700w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/ED5F57A5-465A-4D05-9FBD-7C591CF2CDD3-600x338.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/04\/ED5F57A5-465A-4D05-9FBD-7C591CF2CDD3-160x90.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-28992\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Venus Shell Systems Founder and Director Dr Pia Winberg with ACES Director Professor Gordon Wallace<em>.\u00a0<\/em>(Photo credit: University of Wollongong)<\/p><\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt has been so exciting to begin the journey of unlocking molecules from seaweed and delivering them to new heights in partnership with researchers in biomaterials,\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dr Winberg commented. <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cParticularly when the molecules that we have found from a unique species of Australian green seaweed are uncannily similar in structure and function to the molecules that exists in human skin. It will be exciting when this translates into improving the health outcomes for patients with wounds.\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> For more information, you can read the full paper <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/pubs.rsc.org\/en\/content\/articlelanding\/2021\/bm\/d0bm01784a#!divAbstract\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">HERE<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do you think about the novel bioink incorporating ulvan? Let us know in a comment below or on our <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/3Dnatives\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Facebook,<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/3Dnatives_en\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/3dnatives\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">LinkedIn<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> pages! Sign up for our free weekly<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/3d-printing-newsletter\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Newsletter here<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, the latest 3D printing news straight to your inbox!<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">*Cover photo credit: Dinghua Yang<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"dnati-after-content\" id=\"dnati-3175473494\"><a data-no-instant=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/amcoe.org\/event\/design-for-additive-manufacturing-design-at-elevation\/\" rel=\"noopener\" class=\"a2t-link\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"DfAM course-850&#215;150\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg\" alt=\"\"  srcset=\"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1.jpg 850w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-600x106.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-768x136.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/04\/DfAM-course-850x150-1-160x28.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 850px) 100vw, 850px\" width=\"850\" height=\"150\"   \/><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Scientists have developed a novel bioink for 3D bioprinting which could play an important role in wound healing. This ability is thanks to the addition of a particular strain of the molecular species ulvan, a type of seaweed, which possesses&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6075,"featured_media":28990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-materials","category-news","category-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6075"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28983"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28993,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28983\/revisions\/28993"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}