Visionary chemistry is making labs accessible to blind students and researchers

As research laboratories increasingly move towards automation, the technological revolution that can make chemists more efficient is also enabling those who are blind or visually impaired to participate in the field as they never could before. Bryan Shaw, a chemistry and biochemistry professor at Baylor University in Texas, US, is leading the way, using government grants to develop novel tactile tools that make his lab, and chemistry in general, much more accessible.

Shaw, whose 15-year old son developed retinoblastoma as an infant and has since had one of his eyes removed, started out by leading his team to make bite-sized models from gelatin or nontoxic resin that made it possible for protein shapes to be identified with the mouth. The team went on to use 3D printing techniques to convert scientific images into thin 3D constructions known as lithophanes that can present high resolution data in a form that is interpretable by blind or visually impaired researchers.