What happened Last week, shares of 3D printer maker 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD) enjoyed a big 11% pop on some pretty small-beans news -- the announcement that a little "edible culinary figures" company would be using its printers to print cake decorations and similar stuff. I have to admit that I was pretty underwhelmed with the announcement, and surprised at investors' reaction to it -- but today's news may be more worthy of attention. On Monday, 3D announced that it is teaming up with yet another company -- Israel's CollPlant Biotechnologies -- to use the former's 3D printers and the latter's "proprietary recombinant human collagen (rhCollagen) BioInk technology" to "jointly develop tissue and scaffold bioprinting processes for third party collaborators." Image source: Getty Images. So what Yes, you read that right. 3D is getting into the business of printing replacement people parts -- and this has the potential to turn 3D Systems into a biotech stock, with a biotech stock-like valuation. That's plenty of reason to justify, perhaps, the stock's 9.6% surge in share price through 11:15 a.m. this morning. Now what After all, while financial details of the transaction are scarce, and it's unclear how big this market might be, I'd bet good money it's bigger than the market for edible tchotchkes. It's certainly true that what the companies call "an unmet market need for a comprehensive solution to produce tissues and scaffolds for regenerative medicine applications" (emphasis added) would seem to offer more monetary potential than an unmet want for more cake decorations. And given that this is a case where a successful product could literally save lives, I think it's safe to assume there will be customers willing to spend money on that. After all, you can't take it with you... 10 stocks we like better than 3D SystemsWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and 3D Systems wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of December 1, 2019 Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends 3D Systems. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source