The ‘chemputer’ that could print out any drug
When Lee Cronin learned about the concept of 3D printers, he had a brilliant idea: why not turn such a device into a universal chemistry set that could make its own drugs?
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Professor Lee Cronin is a likably impatient presence, a one-man catalyst. “I just want to get stuff done fast,” he says. And: “I am a control freak in rehab.” Cronin, 39, is the leader of a world-class team of 45 researchers at Glasgow University, primarily making complex molecules. But that is not the extent of his ambition. A couple of years ago, at a TED conference, he described one goal as the creation of “inorganic life”, and went on to detail his efforts to generate “evolutionary algorithms” in inert matter. He still hopes to “create life” in the next year or two. At the same time, one branch of that thinking has itself evolved into a new project: the notion of creating downloadable chemistry, with the ultimate aim of allowing people to “print” their own pharmaceuticals at home. Cronin’s latest TED talk asked the question: “Could we make a really cool universal chemistry set? Can we ‘app’ chemistry?” “Basically,” he tells me, in his office at the university, with half a grin, “what Apple did for music, I’d like to do for the discovery and distribution of prescription drugs.” (via The ‘chemputer’ that could print out any drug | Science | The Observer)
Yes!!!!!!!!! 3DP is amazing enough! Then they started printing organs! Then buildings! Now this! I love where this is going!… star trek matter materializers? =D
Pretty sweet; it’s a fantastic article. Reminds me of the Atomic absorption prac we once did in 3rd year. The kit looked pretty home made; all of it fit into a shoe box. Had a peristaltic pump and meters of clear plastic tubing (with knots tied to mix it!) for the solution to move through before reaching the detector in measured segments with a valve that switched between the rinse solution and the analyte for each run. One could easily print an AAS set up with a few exepctions for things like the detector and pump.
The Willy Wonka of drugs. Sweeeeet.
