Building living tissues nearly from scratch isn't a brand new science. Researchers have used lab animals as hosts to grow functioning organs for people in need of transplants and yes, even human ears. Even 3D printing artificial biological material has been around for a few years, using experimental "bio-inks" and designs for printable skin grafts, just for starters.

BioBots seeks to combine the ability of high-end tissue fabrication – which often requires large, expensive machines running into the US$100,000 range that require technicians to operate – with the ethos of the maker movement and more inexpensive desktop 3D printing equipment.

The project began in the dorms of the University of Pennsylvania last year and quickly moved to the DreamIt Health Accelerator in Philadelphia last fall, before winning awards at South By Southwest and TechCrunch Disrupt in the past few months.