Repurposing a Mosquito’s Proboscis as a Slim Nozzle for 3D Printing

Separated mosquito proboscises can be transformed into ultra-thin nozzles for 3D printing, offering potential for generating replacement tissues and organs suitable for transplantation.

Cao Changhong and his team at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, pioneered this method, termed 3D necroprinting, because they couldn’t find a nozzle adequately thin for creating extremely fine structures. The narrowest commercial nozzle available was 35 micrometers in inner diameter, with a price tag of 60 pounds (approximately $80).

They explored methods like glass drawing, but those nozzles were also costly and very brittle.

“This led us to consider alternatives,” says Cao. “If nature can give us what we need affordably, why should we create it ourselves?”

The research team tasked graduate students, including Justin Puma, to inspect everything from scorpion stingers to snake fangs to identify natural organs fit for the purpose. Ultimately, they discovered the mosquito proboscis, particularly the tougher variant found in female Egyptian mosquitoes (Aedes aegypti). They can now print structures as thin as 20 micrometers.

Cao remarked that a skilled operator could produce six nozzles per hour from the mosquito mouthparts, each costing under $1, making scalability straightforward. These natural nozzles can be fitted onto current 3D printers and are surprisingly durable given their organic origin. Approximately 30% may fail after two weeks, but they can be preserved in the freezer for up to a year.

The research team tested their technology using a bioink called Pluronic F-127, enabling the crafting of biological tissue scaffolds, including blood vessels, and providing a possible route for developing substitute organs.

There are numerous other instances where small biological components have been utilized in machines, such as moth antennas employed in scent-detecting drones. Deceased spiders have been harnessed as mechanical grippers.

Christian Griffith, along with collaborators from Swansea University in the UK, noted that this study exemplifies how human engineers often struggle to keep pace with the tools developed by nature.

“Mosquitoes boast millions of years of evolution, and we’re striving to catch up,” he explains. “They possess a distinct advantage in this respect.”