It would appear that Adrian Bower, a lecturer at the University of Bath, is promoting an open source project for a "Replicating Rapid-Prototyper" that can reproduce not only itself but other macroscale objects.
More on self-replication… Self-replication has always been one of the "pits" that nanotechnology seems to fall into because of its connection with "grey goo". Recent work has shown that perspectives in this area have been over sensationalized and need to be brought back into context.
In the first place, every single human being should recognize that they are the product of self-replicating systems. In fact all life on the planet is the product of self-replicating systems. Within the human body there are a trillions of foreign self-replicating systems that contribute to its well-being (Nanomedicine V. I. sections 8.5.1 & 8.2.3).
At the same time self-replicating systems (such as bacteria) should not be ignored. Nosocomial infections in hospitals are responsible for ~90,000 deaths a year in the U.S.
So self-replicating systems have a good side and a bad side. Those facts should be brought to the table whenever this topic is discussed.
