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Low cost and open source multi-fluorescence imaging system for teaching and research in biology and bioengineering

Nuñez Isaac, Matute Tamara, Herrera Roberto, Keymer Juan, Marzullo Tim, Rudge Tim, Federici Fernán
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/194324
Nuñez Isaac
1Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Matute Tamara
1Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering, School of Engineering, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Herrera Roberto
2Backyard Brains, Santiago, Chile
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Keymer Juan
3Departamento Ecología, Facultad Ciencias Biológicas; Instituto de Física, Facultad de Física, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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Marzullo Tim
2Backyard Brains, Santiago, Chile
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Rudge Tim
4Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering, Schools of Engineering, Medicine and Biological Sciences, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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  • For correspondence: trudge@uc.cl ffederici@bio.puc.cl
Federici Fernán
5Departamento de Genética Molecular y Microbiología, Facultad de Ciencias Biológicas, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
6Fondo de Desarrollo de Áreas Prioritarias, Center for Genome Regulation, Millennium Nucleus Center for Plant Systems and Synthetic Biology, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile
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  • For correspondence: trudge@uc.cl ffederici@bio.puc.cl
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Abstract

The advent of easy-to-use open source microcontrollers, off-the-shelf electronics and customizable manufacturing technologies has facilitated the development of inexpensive scientific devices and laboratory equipment. In this study, we describe an imaging system that integrates low-cost and open-source hardware, software and genetic resources. The multi-fluorescence imaging system consists of readily available 470 nm LEDs, a Raspberry Pi camera and a set of filters made with low cost acrylics. This device allows imaging in scales ranging from single colonies to entire plates. We developed a set of genetic components (e.g. promoters, coding sequences, terminators) and vectors following the standard framework of Golden Gate, which allowed the fabrication of genetic constructs in a combinatorial, low cost and robust manner. In order to provide simultaneous imaging of multiple wavelength signals, we screened a series of long stokes shift fluorescent proteins that could be combined with cyan/green fluorescent proteins. We found CyOFP1, mBeRFP and sfGFP to be the most compatible set for 3-channel fluorescent imaging. We developed open source Python code to operate the hardware to run time-lapse experiments with automated control of illumination and camera and a Python module to analyze data and extract meaningful biological information. To demonstrate the potential application of this integral system, we tested its performance on a diverse range of imaging assays often used in disciplines such as microbial ecology, microbiology and synthetic biology. We also assessed its potential for STEM teaching in a high school environment, using it to teach biology, hardware design, optics, and programming. Together, these results demonstrate the successful integration of open source hardware, software, genetic resources and customizable manufacturing to obtain a powerful, low cost and robust system for STEM education, scientific research and bioengineering. All the resources developed here are available under open source licenses.

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The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY 4.0 International license.
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Posted September 27, 2017.
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Low cost and open source multi-fluorescence imaging system for teaching and research in biology and bioengineering
Nuñez Isaac, Matute Tamara, Herrera Roberto, Keymer Juan, Marzullo Tim, Rudge Tim, Federici Fernán
bioRxiv 194324; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/194324
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Low cost and open source multi-fluorescence imaging system for teaching and research in biology and bioengineering
Nuñez Isaac, Matute Tamara, Herrera Roberto, Keymer Juan, Marzullo Tim, Rudge Tim, Federici Fernán
bioRxiv 194324; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/194324

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