Dissecting something for the first time is something of a rite of passage for children in British schools, but not one without drama. While I personally don’t remember anyone throwing up, I do recall kids being excused from the exercise for ethical reasons and a general ickiness about the whole thing. Maybe that’s why I’m writing this article rather than whistling contentedly away in an abattoir right now.

But the ethical and squeamishness issues of class dissections could soon be a thing of the past thanks to an idea so simple and brilliant, it’s astonishing it hadn’t been considered before: 3D-printed rats.

“We can print an animal and structure the layers so that they feel like real tissue, and make a model a person could dissect without ever having to wear gloves, use sharp tools or kill an animal,” Bart Taylor, the man behind NecropSynth, told Smithsonian.com.

Not only does this deal with many of the issues of dissection – not least that rats are routinely slaughtered for educational purposes – but it’s also likely to be considerably cheaper than the real thing. A biological supply company charges around $8 to $12 per rat, whereas a plastic replica could be as low as $2 to $3.

“We think that reducing the cost makes it so that education is far more open. It can help bridge the gap that socioeconomic class puts between schools that may not be able to afford biological specimens and dissection equipment [and those that can],” Taylor explained.

Rats and frogs are currently used for dissection because they’re easy to breed and contain, but with 3D-printed alternatives children could – in theory – be slicing and dicing other animals, potentially opening up a wider national curriculum.

In order to spread the idea and keep the costs down for schools, Taylor and his partner Tara Whittle are planning on making the 3D-printer schematics free to download. “A few people just couldn’t believe it. We’re not looking to sell this,” said Whittle.

I’m racking my brains and struggling to think of any downsides to this. More accessible, low-cost, and with scope for animals currently impractical to study. The only real issue I can see is the rude wake-up call that wannabe medical students will get when they move on to the real thing in further education, but hey – there are worse hazing rituals.

Images: ArtBrom and CarolynTiry used under Creative Commons.