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. This work contributes a key technology to the growing community-wide infrastructure of open-source biology-focused hardware, whose creation is facilitated by rapid prototyping capabilities and low-cost electronics, optoelectronics, and microcomputers. Fully detailed guides for assembling the device and automating it using the custom Python-based API (Application Program Interface) are provided. Functional capabilities were demonstrated in context of synthetic biology, optogenetics, and photosensory biology: by steady-state measurements of ligand-induced reporter gene expression in a model of bacterial quorum sensing, and by flavin photocycling kinetic measurements of a LOV (light-oxygen-voltage) domain photoreceptor used for optogenetic transcriptional activation. The total system costs <$3500, a fraction of the cost of commercial plate readers, and can detect the fluorescence of common dyes down to ∼10 nanomolar concentration. The system features full-spectrum absorbance and fluorescence emission detection, in situ optogenetic stimulation, and stand-alone touch screen programming of automated assay protocols.
To enhance their accessibility, we here report the design, construction, validation, and benchmarking of an open-source microplate reader. Microplate readers are foundational instruments in experimental biology and bioengineering that enable multiplexed spectrophotometric measurements.
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