It turns out the human ear got off to a fishy start. Literally. A fascinating new study reveals that the mammalian outer ear has its evolutionary roots in the gills of ancient fish. This surprising ...

Over the next three to six months, the structure developed into cartilage containing tissue that closely replicated the ear's anatomical features, including the helical rim, the "anti-helix" rim ...

Once the structures are proven safe and effective, the researchers can start to think about human trials. However, “We’re still looking at the safety of these things,” Atala conceded.

A human ear isn't all that the scientists have used the 3D printer to create, so far the team has created part of a jawbone, muscle, and cartilage structures in addition to the ear.

Grown To Order Microtia is a condition in which the external ear structures are underdeveloped, on one or both sides. Credit: Klaus D. Peter, CC-BY-SA-3.0 ...

They used ITOP to produce baby-sized ear structures measuring 1.5 in (3.8 cm) long, which were implanted under the skin of mice in the lab and went on to show signs of vascularization one and two ...

A human ear structure sits in a dish after it was printed with a device called the Integrated Tissue-Organ Printing System. (Credit: Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine) Researchers ...

More information: Alexander Stoessel et al. Morphology and function of Neandertal and modern human ear ossicles, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2016). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1605881113 ...