Designing and Buying a 3D Printed Gift

I have been trying for years to get a worthy commemoration for my brother of his 27 patents.  There are plaques you can buy, but I wanted something he could hand down to his niece or nephew and I didn’t think they would find room for 27 plaques handed down to them.

His patents are mostly related to processes in protein sequencing with titles such as “Up-converting reporters for biological and other assays using laser excitation techniques” and “Protein separation via multidimensional electrophoresis.” I admit having to buy two different books on an introduction to genetics just to understand the abstracts.  As I read through the books, I imagined a DNA helix with the patent numbers etched into the different strands.

I started looking for a sculptor or artist to create what was in my head. I reached out locally and emailed artists on Etsy. This process has taken years, investing an hour or two each holiday season.  I finally stumbled into a 3D printing service website called Shapeways.  Shapeways allows you to use easy creator apps to make your own gift, access free and professional 3D modeling software, or hire a designer.  I searched through models that were for sale and found a scientist/artist “Molecule” who specialized in the 3D printing of molecular models including DNA and proteins.

Ivo Laros is a senior assistant researcher in molecular ecology at a University in the Netherlands. C’mon!  You have to admit we live in pretty awesome times when I can use the internet to find a molecular chemist in the Netherlands who is also a 3D artist to make my brother a unique patent commemorative gift that costs 22 times less than the traditional commemorative plaques. Ivo creates the design in 3D imaging software and the file is uploaded to Shapeways to print and ship one or one hundred of whatever he designs. In our dialog back and forth, I learned that you can encode in the AGCT of DNA letters of the alphabet, and so the helix designed not only lists out the US Patent numbers for Luke’s patents, it also spells out his last name of Schneider. I got excited and found an online translation program! Yet another language to introduce my students to!

I do hope my brother enjoys the gift.  It is small, the strands of the DNA Helix only 7.5 mm thick.  And it is fragile, only by printing do we find out if it will be too fragile.

I challenge you to ask your kids to design a gift for their favorite relative by logging onto Shapeways.  Maybe you’ll be inspired to stay up past their bedtimes and design something for them.