DIY Microscope Built From A Smartphone And $10 Hardware For Biology Labs

If you are a biology enthusiast and love exploring the nature around you with your own custom built microscope, the solution from the students at Missouri University of Science and Technology is something to capture your interest. With the use of hardware worth $10 and a smartphone, you can build your own microscopes for your school's biology lab or your mini projects at home. The Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Microscope was built using nuts, wing nuts, washers, plywood and carriage bolts. Other things used in the project are also something you can easily find at home, such as LED click lights, laser pointer lenses and your old smartphone for viewing and enlarging lab specimens.


The microscope built by the students at Missouri University of Science and Technology is capable of magnifying samples up to 175 times with a single laser pointer lens, or up to 400 times when stacking two lenses. The teachers at the institute are pleasantly surprised at the results these microscopes showed. In fact, they were better than most DIY kits available for purchase online.

How do you like the idea of making a DIY microscope at home? Share your thoughts and ideas with us in comments.

<a href="https://news.mst.edu/2014/07/reinventing-biology-lab-with-10-and-a-smartphone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Missouri S&T – News and Events – Reinventing biology lab with $10 and a smartphone</a>