But what exactly is 3D printing? And how big of an impact will it have on our future?

The concept is quite simple: much your like printer prints ink on a page, 3D printers

spit out material - whether it be plastic, metal, or even concrete- to form a 3 dimensional

object. But instead of printing one layer, as ink from a normal printer does, multiple

layers are stacked upon each other to create complex 3D structures. Think of it like making

sliced bread, but in reverse! After putting one layer down, another is built on top of

that, and so on, until the whole loaf of bread is put together!

Lost or broke something that you can no longer buy? Simple - create or download the design

online, and 3D-print it out! Have a specific or personal holiday present idea and can't

find it? Print it! In fact, GE's tumblr '3Dprintmygift.tumblr.com' is doing exactly this for the holiday season

- we'll put a link in the description. And if you require moving parts in your design,

the printer simply leave gaps in the right spots, or uses a special gel that can be dissolved

or rinsed off afterwards.

Speaking of design, 3D printing paves the wave for incredibly customized objects, made

on demand to fit your requirements. Not only does this mean furniture, shoes and appliances

built to fit your lifestyle, but things like prosthetic limbs can have completely customized

user designs, as opposed to generic mass produced products.

Need something small and intricate? Typical 3D printers create layers approximately 100

micrometers thick, but some high-end machines can print as small as 16 micrometers. To put

this in perspective, a typical bacteria cell has a width of between 1-10 micrometers. This

has opened the doors to using molecules for ink, and has lead to successful 3D-printed

pharmaceutical drugs, such as Ibuprofen (CHECK). The tiny molecules are organized perfectly

to create the desired drug effect.

Hungry? In the future, you might be able to ask Siri to 3D-print a meal, perfected for

your palette.

But, perhaps the most significant application is creating 3D structures out of living cells

- or bio-ink. Instead of using plastic or metal, imagine 3D printing tissue to replace

damaged skin, or to reproduce entire organs from scratch. Instead of needing an organ

donor, you just print one based off of your genetics. Amazingly, this technology is already

being developed. For burns or scrapes, a scanner is used on a patient's wound, and a personalized

skin map is created. After this, the printer lays down cells one layer at a time, until

the area is covered.

Organs are much more complex due to their large size, vascular networks, and interactions

with the body. A scanner takes X-ray images of, say, a patient's kidney, as cross sections

with incredibly intricate detail. And just like any other object, these organs are reproduced

layer by layer, specifically designed for each individual. Though these are years away

from being functional, it will certainly have a huge impact on the medical community.

So while it may be a while before you end up with a 3D printer in your home, you can

be sure that by the time it happens, the world will be a different place.

But if you can't wait that long, GE is giving 3D Printing it's own holiday this December

3rd - it's 'D3 for 3D'! To celebrate, they're 3D-printing and giving away customized gifts

for their fans all day. All you have to do is visit 3dprintmygift.tumblr.com to choose

one of the prototypes and tweet for a chance to get one printed and shipped to your home

in time for the holidays! Go check it out!

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