AccScience Publishing / IJB / Online First / DOI: 10.36922/IJB026340366
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COMMENTARY

The future of 3D bioprinting: From functional tissues to standardized manufacturing and clinical translation

Wei Long Ng1* ,  Yu Shun Chong1 ,  Aaron C.Y. Leow1 ,  Verena Regina Tirtajasa1 ,  Paulo Bartolo1*
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1 Singapore Centre for 3D Printing, School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore , Singapore
Received: 21 August 2026 | Revised: 16 September 2026 | Accepted: 8 October 2026 | Published online: 16 October 2026
© 2026 by the Author(s). This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ )
Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting has evolved from demonstrating the feasibility of fabricating complex tissue architectures to engineering increasingly functional biological constructs. However, advances in biological functionality have not been matched by comparable progress in standardized evaluation, manufacturing consistency, and clinical translation. Here, we propose a Bioprinting 1.0 to 5.0 evolutionary framework that describes the progression of the field from engineering feasibility and biological compatibility to biological functionality, standardized manufacturing, and clinical translation. We discuss emerging standardization efforts across extrusion-, jetting-, and vat photopolymerization–based bioprinting and highlight the need for quantitative, reproducible benchmarks spanning bio-ink properties, printing performance, construct quality, and biological function. We further examine the manufacturing, safety, regulatory, and clinical requirements needed to translate functional bioprinted tissues into therapeutic products. This framework provides a roadmap for advancing 3D bioprinting from laboratory-scale demonstrations toward reproducible and clinically translatable tissue engineering.

Keywords
3D bioprinting
Biofabrication
Bio-inks
Tissue engineering
Standardization
Clinical translation
Funding
This research/project is supported by the National Research Foundation, Singapore under NRF-Agence Nationale de la Recherche (NRF-ANR) (Award: NRF2024-NRF-ANR003 3DBioReg).
Conflict of interest
Both Prof. Paulo Bartolo and Dr. Wei Long Ng serve as Editorial Board Members of this journal, but were not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. The authors declare they have no competing interests.
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International Journal of Bioprinting, Electronic ISSN: 2424-8002 Print ISSN: 2424-7723, Published by AccScience Publishing