Organ printing for medical applications is still in the developmental stages. Thus, the long term impacts of organ printing have yet to be determined. Researchers hope that organ printing could decrease the organ transplant shortage. There is currently a shortage of available organs, including liver, kidneys, and lungs. The lengthy wait time to receive life saving organs is one of the leading causes of death in the United States, with nearly one third of deaths each year in the United States that could be delayed or prevented with organ transplants. Currently the only organ that has been 3D bioprinted and successfully transplanted into a human is a bladder. The bladder was formed from the host's bladder tissue. Researchers have proposed that a potential positive impact of 3D printed organs is the ability to customize organs for the recipient. Developments enabling an organ recipient’s host cells to be used to synthesize organs decreases the risk of organ rejection.
The ability to print organs has decreased the demand for animal testing. Animal testing is used to determine the safety of products ranging from makeup to medical devices. Cosmetic companies are already using smaller tissue models to test new products on skin. The ability to 3D print skin reduces the need for animal trials for makeup testing. In addition, the ability to print models of human organs to test the safety and efficacy of new drugs further reduces the necessity for animal trials. Researchers at Harvard University determined that drug safety can be accurately tested on smaller tissue models of lungs. The company Organovo, which designed one of the initial commercial bioprinters in 2009, has displayed that biodegradable 3D tissue models can be used to research and develop new drugs, including those to treat cancer. An additional impact of organ printing includes the ability to rapidly create tissue models, therefore increasing productivity.