22 Jul Necroprinting: Finally, a use for the mosquito!
By Geoff Hughes, UNE Discovery Voyager
UNE Discovery has made good use of 3d-printing technology. Many of our activities use 3d-printed objects as resources, such as fossils and bones, platforms for our engineering activities, and compartments in escape rooms.
However, a new bioengineering project may lead to an incredible improvement in the quality of 3d-printers. It’s just… a bit gross.
Engineering researchers from McGill University in Canada have followed a long tradition of taking inspiration from nature to a new level. Rather than copying the features of a plant or animal in their designs, Puma et al. (2025) opted to replace the printing nozzles of 3d printers with the proboscis (mouth) of female mosquitoes.
These probosci are how the female mosquito bites people and animals to drink their blood. The female mosquito requires the proteins in this blood to make her eggs (males do not drink blood). Since blood tends to be hot and under significant pressure, the tiny beak-like mouth of the mosquito can withstand quite high pressures and temperatures. Much like those experienced by the nozzle of a 3d printer!
The McGill researchers tested a few potential candidates, such as snake and centipede fangs, the harpoons of cone snails, and the stingers of scorpions. The stiff, hollow mouth of the female mosquito won out, due to the balance of size, rigidity, toughness, and straightness. Many of the other candidates were too large or too curved to make for a good dispenser. Obviously, there is also no shortage of mosquitoes, so supply is not an issue.
Testing of the proboscis as a dispenser showed that it could print to a fineness of 20 micrometres (0.001 mm). There are fabricated dispensers that can go smaller, but they are very difficult and expensive to make, and demand for that level of precision is low.
Using these mosquito mouths (which the researchers have dubbed ‘necroprinting’) is a possible way forward for getting highly detailed 3d prints done without breaking the bank. If further research shows that necroprinting is commercially viable, the authors are certainly up for an award (and maybe should also be on a list somewhere).