A Nature Chemistry paper by researchers from the University of Glasgow describes a process for “printing” pharmaceutical compounds from various feedstocks, and supposes a future in which we have diagnosis/medication manufacturies at home. The process uses an off-the-shelf 3D printer technology to assemble pre-filled “vessels” in ways that create the desired chemical reaction in order to produce medicines. It’s a scaled-down version of the industrial process used to manufacture drugs in bulk, and the paper’s principal, Prof Lee Cronin, calls it “reactionware.”

via “Printing” pharmaceuticals with a 3D printer – Boing Boing.

Now that’s an interesting premise … how would patents work in an era where home fabrication is available? What’s to stop narcotics, etc from being synthesized? Is this really real? Time to track down the Nature paper…