With 3D printed homes becoming an affordable and fast option in tackling the housing crisis in America, scientists have been dreaming up new ways to make the entire homebuilding industry even more sustainable using the technology. And thanks to a discovery made by scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 3D-printed wood could mean the end of deforestation. …Scientists affiliated with MIT and the Charles Stark Draper Library first began experimenting with cells from the Zinnia elegans (aka the zinnia plant) to see if living cells could be lab-grown and customized into a wood-like material that can be used to build — similar to how scientists can already engineer animal cells to grow into tissue-like formations. …And by using a 3D bioprinter, scientists can grow this plant material in ways that aren’t found in nature, and do so without producing waste.