Soon, 3D printed shoes that repair themselves

Researchers have designed new self-healing 3D printed running shoes from a synthetic bio-material that envelope your foot like a second skin.
Shamees Aden, a London-based designer has developed a concept for running shoes that can be 3D-printed from synthetic biological material and repair themselves overnight.
The Protocells shoes can be printed to match the exact size of the user's foot from a material that fits like a second skin, 'Dezeen' magazine reported.
The material of the shoes reacts to pressure and movement created when running, puffing up to provide extra cushioning when required.
Protocells are very basic molecules that are not themselves alive, but can be combined to create living organisms.

By mixing different types of these non-living molecules, scientists are attempting to produce artificial living systems that can be programmed with different behaviours, such as responsiveness to pressure, light and heat.

"The cells have the capability to inflate and deflate and to respond to pressure," said Aden, who developed the project in collaboration with Dr Martin Hanczyc, a professor at the University of Southern Denmark.
"As you're running on different grounds and textures it's able to inflate or deflate depending on the pressure you put onto it and could help support you as a runner," said Aden.
As the protocells in the material lose their energy after a run, the shoes is then placed in a jar filled with protocell liquid that keeps the living organisms healthy, the report said.

The liquid is also dyed any colour, causing the shoes to take on that colour as the cells rejuvenate.