Melanie Matheu

What if you could build life with light?

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About Melanie Matheu

Melanie Matheu founded Prellis Biologics in October 2016 with a design for an optical-based printing system and a roadmap to creating fully vascularized human tissues and organs for transplantation. She was inspired to find a way to reverse-engineer laser-based imaging systems into a printer when she realized that the final roadblock in building human organs for transplant was a simple and well-defined engineering problem: How can microvasculature be printed fast enough to build human tissues? Prellis Biologics’ technology solves this problem by partially decoupling printing speed from resolution with a novel patent-pending laser-based projection system. Melanie's PhD-level specialties in laser-based microscopy, immunology, chemistry, physiology, and biophysics have allowed her to bridge the gap between seemingly disparate fields to make human organ engineering a reality.

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About This Idea

What if you could build life with light? CEO and Founder Melanie Matheu and her team at Prellis Biologics have created a machine that builds full organ systems by projecting high resolution laser light—even forming the acute capillaries that breathe air through our bodies. Watch her TEDMED 2018 talk to learn how Prellis Biologics is using light to build a path to restore life.

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