Microalgae-Based 3D Bioprinting: Recent Advances, Applications and Perspectives

Three-dimensional bioprinting integrating living cells and bioactive materials enables the fabrication of scaffold structures supporting diverse cellular growth and metabolism. Microalgae are among the most promising microbial platforms for the construction of photosynthetic cell factories, while the current industrial-scale cultivation of microalgae remains predominantly dependent on traditional liquid submerged systems, imposing limitations on commercial viability due to both process and economic constraints. Encapsulation of microalgae within bioactive matrices combined with 3D bioprinting to fabricate customized structures has been explored to address the limitations of submerged cultivation, which are expected to expand microalgal applications and establish new research directions in microalgal biotechnology. This review analyzes both matrices and methods of 3D bioprinting, summarizing the advancement of microalgae-based 3D bioprinting into six main domains including living building materials, biophotovoltaics, photosynthetic biosynthesis, bioremediation, tissue engineering, and food engineering. Lastly, synthetic biology-informed perspectives are provided on future developments of 3D bioprinting technologies and their potential in microalgal research.