A German museum is displaying a 3D printer-made live copy of the severed ear of the famous 19^th Century painter Vincent van Gogh. 

The Center for Art and Media, a museum in Karlsruhe, Germany, has put the replica for public viewing. 

Diemut Strebe is the artist who made the replica possible. Strebe used 3D printer technology to recreate the live severed ear of the Dutch painter after drawing a DNA sample from Lieuwe van Gogh, Theo van Gogh's great-great-grandson. Theo was Vincent's brother. 

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"I use science basically like a type of brush, like Vincent used paint," Strebe said in an interview with the Associated Press. 

Strebe who is a U.S.-based artist, said that Lieuwe has the same Y chromosome and 1/16^th genes of Vincent van Gogh. Strebe recreated the severed ear at the Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston where it was grown. 

During the interview, Strebe said she originally planned to use Vincent's DNA, but there was a mix-up in the envelope which contained the Dutch painter's DNA. Strebed joked that "the postman messed it up" and had to use the next best thing. 

The ear, which is part of the work "Sugababe," is placed in a transparent container filled with nourishing liquid. Theoretically, the liquid can keep the recreated ear alive for years. 

The ear was first publicly presented last May 30 together with a lecture by Noam Chomsky. Part of the exhibit allows viewers to speak to the ear using a microphone. 

According to museum staff, when a visitor speaks through the microphone, the sound is fed into a computer that would process the noise in real-time. The sound moves through nutrient solutions that hit the ear's artificial nerves. Technically, the live copy of van Gogh's ear can hear words or sounds spoken into it. 

In just over a few years, 3D printing engineers have made leaps developing the technology and the live ear is a testament that it can bridge science and art. 

Research and studies related to 3D printing have shown how this latest technology has produce dramatic results that can help people in many ways. 

"Engineers have made incredible strides in making complex artificial tissues such as those of the heart, liver and lungs," said Ali Khademhosseini, lead research in on the studies, told IBT in an interview. 

The museum said the exhibition will be open to the public until July 6. Strebe, for her part, wants the ear installation exhibited in New York. 

Tags3D Printing, Vincent van Gogh, Center for Art and Media