Making lab equipment on the cheap

Laboratory equipment is one of the largest cost factors in neuroscience. However, many experiments can be performed with good results using self-assembled setups involving 3-D printed components and self-programmed electronics. In a study publishing July 18 in the open access journal PLOS Biology, André Maia Chagas and Tom Baden from the Universities of Tübingen and Sussex present “FlyPi”—a low-cost imaging and microscope system for research, training and teaching.