Hari Sreenivasan:

Whether it's with plastic, metal, or even living tissue, 3-D printing has been around since the 1980s. It's been used mostly for prototyping. And, so far, it's still cheaper to make most large-volume consumer goods like bottle caps using traditional methods.

But, as Miles O'Brien reports, recent advances could launch 3-D printing into a new era.

It's the subject of tonight's Leading Edge story, which airs every Wednesday.