Shape of the future

3D printers could spell the end of traditional manufacturing in many sectors, as products as diverse of braces for teeth, or ammunition for guns, could just be printed out, writes Martha Mendoza

INVISALIGN, a US company, uses 3D printing to make patients a mouthful of customised, transparent braces.

Mackenzies Chocolates, a confectioner in Santa Cruz, uses a 3D printer to pump out chocolate moulds. And earlier this year, Cornell University researchers used a 3D printer, along with injections of a special collagen gel, to create a human-shaped ear.