What do you believe is the single most important factor driving up the cost of living in Nigeria?

In a process as simple as stirring eggs and flour into pancakes, University of Oregon researchers have mixed fluorescent ring-shaped molecules into a novel 3D printing process. The result: intricate glowing structures that support the development of new kinds of biomedical implants.

The advance solves a longstanding design challenge by making the structures easier to track and monitor over time inside the body, allowing researchers to easily distinguish what's part of an implant and what's cells or tissue.

The discovery emerged from a collaboration between Paul Dalton's engineering lab in the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact and Ramesh Jasti's chemistry lab in the UO's College of Arts and Sciences. The researchers describe their findings in a paper published this summer in the journal Small.

"I think it was one of those strange times when we said, 'Let's try it,' and it pretty much worked immediately," Dalton said.

But behind that simple origin story are years of specialized research and expertise in two very different fields before they finally came together.

• Read More