anubis finished: University of Glasgow scientists print drugs in 3D, pave the way for in-home pharmacies

Friday, April 20, 2012

University of Glasgow scientists print drugs in 3D, pave the way for in-home pharmacies

Breaking Bad in 3D? If recent work by a team of University of Glasgow scientists persists, that could soon be a hard reality -- just without the glasses. Taking what's typically been the province of sanitized laboratories and moving it outside, the group's devised an efficient method that makes use of commercial-grade three-dimensional printers to create "reactionware vessels": custom-designed, polymer gels that house and aide in chemical reactions. The technique, already viable on a larger, albeit slower scale, is not quite ready for primetime, but with future refinements could eventually trickle down into small businesses, or third-world countries where it'd be used for rapid medical treatment. And, in a hypothetical scenario that'll likely provoke scrutiny from the FDA and DEA, consumers might one day be able to save a trip to the drugstore and simply print from home -- a decidedly different spin on designer drugs -- using apps. Of course, this is all just speculation of potential future applications. We trust that humanity and enterprise will put this medication replication to noble use -- until it hits the club, that is.