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The 'Chemputer' which can give you any drug or organic material using a 3D printer

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posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:15 AM
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Professor Lee Cronin, of Glasgow University, points out that most drugs are a combination of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, and that 'with a printer it should be possible that with a relatively small number of inks you can make any organic molecule.'

Having successfully demonstrated the concept, The team is now working on ways for 3D printers to print out relatively simple drugs such as Ibuprofen, in an experiment which could revolutionise medication.



Cronin used a £1,200 3D printer for his prototype, and used bathroom sealant as a base material on which to print the chemicals. The printer could then inject the right proportions of molecules into micro-tubes within the template, with the 'chemical inks' then reacting with each other to form the requested drugs. In the future, anyone with a printer could download the right blueprint for the drug, and print off what they need.


Source link

How amazing would this be? But also how dangerous? Could this kind of technology be trusted in the hands of every day people? I cant ever see people being allowed to self medicate without a doctor prescription.

But challenging Big Pharma ? I fear for this mans life. At the very least it could help surgeries in developing countries get the right drugs to those who need them so badly. This tech is really a double edged sword.

Please dont go talking about illegal drugs in this thread



edit on 27-7-2012 by PhoenixOD because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:20 AM
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posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:24 AM
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Oh, itll be bootlegged. Just wait til theyre makong narcotics with it. no more complicated chemical reactions, just download your drugs on piratebay.

Someone actually put a 3d printer on pirate bay. Apparently if you have a 3d printer you can pirate another one. i suspect the torrent i saw was a joke, but i dont see why it wouldnt be possible.

I never thought id see the day where we can pirate objects or download drugs. Or debunk ufos by saying "oh its just a flying robot". The future is very weird



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:31 AM
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3D printing technology is potentialy a revolution for consumers, each house hold can have there own mass production facility, where, in the future if the organic replication is further refined it may indeed be like having a replicator from Star Trek in your house.

Of course the very first time you replicate a Chicago Town pizza you will infact be committing copyright infringement, theft, piracy etc etc and will be sent to prison for life. But still, very very good technology.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:33 AM
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reply to post by PhoenixOD
 


I don't see how you can magically transfer chemicals from one printer to another, without both printers having the chemicals in the first place. From computer to printer, isn't it just a transfer of codes, or signs?



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:37 AM
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reply to post by trysts
 


Its not like a PC printer, its more like a CNC machine where you code a specific design into the printers computer and it begins to construct a 3D model. You can buy them now, kinda costly but far far far cheaper than actualy buying say a toolset. Obviously there are limitations to scale and complexity etc and an organic printer such as discussed in the OP would be on a scale far too complex for any consumer technology at the moment.
edit on 27-7-2012 by Murad because: (no reason given)



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:39 AM
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reply to post by trysts
 


Heres some more details


Describing his procedure, he said:'If I was being facetious I would say that to find your inks you would go to the periodic table: carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and so on.

'But obviously you can't handle all those substances very well, so it would have to be a bit more complex than that.

'If you were looking to make a sugar, for example, you would start with your set of base sugars and mix them together.

'When we make complex molecules in the traditional way with test tubes and flasks, we start with a smaller number of simpler molecules.

'With a printer it should be possible that with a relatively small number of inks you can make any organic molecule.'



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 08:55 AM
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I'm sorry, Murad and PhoenixOD, but those explanations don't address the question of actual transference. Say I wanted to buy morphine online, the morphine would have to come with the printer in the first place. I don't see how one magically transfers morphine from a hospital to your printer?



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 09:00 AM
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reply to post by trysts
 


Err..it explains that drugs are made from simpler base chemicals that get processed into more complex molecules.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 09:01 AM
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reply to post by trysts
 


en.wikipedia.org... - 3D Printing

en.wikipedia.org... - Organic Chemistry

Hope it helps.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 09:03 AM
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Originally posted by PhoenixOD
reply to post by trysts
 


Err..it explains that drugs are made from simpler base chemicals that get processed into more complex molecules.


So, how do you transfer the drugs to the patient, from a computer in the pharmacy to the printer in your home?



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 09:08 AM
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reply to post by trysts
 


I think you are confused on how this works.

- The special printer makes the drugs...

- Eventually (after a few years) price will come down and we will be able to own the special printer in our own home.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 11:23 AM
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This has been posted 4 days ago:
www.abovetopsecret.com...



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 11:24 AM
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Originally posted by trysts

Originally posted by PhoenixOD
reply to post by trysts
 


Err..it explains that drugs are made from simpler base chemicals that get processed into more complex molecules.


So, how do you transfer the drugs to the patient, from a computer in the pharmacy to the printer in your home?

You might want to read up on 3D printers. They're called printers for a reason.

All it needs is the blue print, enough processing power, & time.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 11:27 AM
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Originally posted by phroziac
Oh, itll be bootlegged. Just wait til theyre makong narcotics with it. no more complicated chemical reactions, just download your drugs on piratebay.

Someone actually put a 3d printer on pirate bay. Apparently if you have a 3d printer you can pirate another one. i suspect the torrent i saw was a joke, but i dont see why it wouldnt be possible.

I never thought id see the day where we can pirate objects or download drugs. Or debunk ufos by saying "oh its just a flying robot". The future is very weird


You do not pirate them, many 3D printers are freely available to be printed of and reproduced once you have your first printer set up such as the RepRap. I am planning of creating my own and reproducing it but I am waiting for the technology to advance a little before I put some cash into it.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 11:29 AM
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reply to post by verschickter
 


Thanks for you concern verschickter but you can have a story in BAN and one other forum



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 12:06 PM
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Its not about can or not, just wanted to point out there is another thread about it.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 02:46 PM
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Cheers for the original post PhoenixOD. I actually work with 3D printers fairly frequently but from a prototyping component fabriaction point of view. Not sure if people here are interested in this, but there is are 3D printers capable of producing structures at the nano level.

What is brilliant about this technology is that when it becomes more accessable to the household, people will be able to create new and potentially revolutionary new products/technologies/components etc...

As for the biomedical aspect, I knew that it is currently possible to print cellular sheets and possible eventually meat, I did not know that this biochemical printing was available. As for the problem with the correct bio-chemical base chemicals for the reproduction at home, this system would have to have a fairly large library of chemicals installed ready for use.

But as someone previously said, this technology can have its bad sides. As previously posted within the science thread, we have just seen a working gun being reproduced through these systems

Racos



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 05:23 PM
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Originally posted by PhoenixOD
reply to post by trysts
 


I think you are confused on how this works.

- The special printer makes the drugs...

- Eventually (after a few years) price will come down and we will be able to own the special printer in our own home.



After reading about 3D printers, I was right; it would be impossible to send prescriptions unless you had a "universal chemistry set" in your printer. I don't see that happening.



posted on Jul, 27 2012 @ 06:19 PM
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reply to post by trysts
 


well this is the whole point of the idea, because most drugs are only made from carbon, hydrogen and oxygen then eventually (when the tech develops more) you will only need those 3 elements and not a whole chemistry set.


edit on 27-7-2012 by PhoenixOD because: (no reason given)



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