2 ms·
The idea is not to print molecules. Instead, you print reagents into a matrix designed to guide a reaction. The reactor vessel itself becomes a template for syn
by pash 14y ago
The idea is not to print molecules. Instead, you print reagents into a matrix designed to guide a reaction. The reactor vessel itself becomes a template for synthesis.
There's a team at the University of
Glasgow working on this. They published in Nature Chemistry last year [0] and garnered a lot of attention in the popular science media.
0. http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/v4/n5/full/nchem.1313.html http://www.nature.com/nchem/journal/v4/n5/full/nchem.1313.ht...
- spartango 14y agoUnfortunately, for much of synthetic chemistry, positioning a bunch of reagents in a matrix is not sufficient to produce a target molecule. And even if you do manage to get to your target through a relatively trivial process, isolating it from other compounds is an enormous challenge. Reactionware has traditionally made this problem worse, as solvents and reagents tend to interact with the containers and contaminate the synthesis. There's a reason that most chemistry is still done in glass. Further, the reagents and catalysts involved in drug synthesis vary wildly, so it will take a substantial amount of shopping to even get the raw materials you would need to setup a viable reaction. While this is a cool setup, it's best not to overstate it's capabilities.