A couple of years ago, at a TED conference, Professor Lee Cronin mentioned a 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?”
The idea is very much at the conception stage, but as he walks me around his labs Cronin begins to outline how that “paradigm-changing” project might progress. He has been in Scotland for 10 years and in that time he has worked hard, as any chemist worth his salt should, to get the right mix of people to produce the results he wants. Cronin’s interest has always been in complex chemicals and the origins of life. “We are pretty good at making molecules. We do a lot of self-assembly at a molecular level,” he says. “We are able to make really large molecules and I was able to get a lot of money in grants and so on for doing that.” But after a while, Cronin suggests, making complex molecules for their own sake can seem a bit limiting. He wanted to find some more life-changing applications for his team’s expertise.
Bioprinting and 3D Printing of drugs is once again taking the limelight. Read the full article:
[…] A couple of years ago, at a TED conference, Professor Lee Cronin mentioned a 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? The idea is very much at the conception stage, but as he walks me around his labs Cronin begins to outline how that paradigm-changing project might progress. He has been in Scotland for 10 years and in that time he has worked hard, as any chemist worth his salt should, to get the right mix of people to produce the results he wants. Cronin s interest has always been in complex chemicals and the origihttps://associationof3dprinting.com/3d-printing-and-drugs-can-this-computer-3d-print-any-drug/ […]