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World’s first fully 3D-printed microscope made in under 3 hours

The microscope cost less than £50 to build using an open-source design and a common 3D printer

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

10 January 2025

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

3D-printed lenses make this microscope far less costly than traditional ones

Dr Liam M. Rooney/University of Strathclyde

The world’s first fully 3D-printed microscope can be made in a few hours and for a fraction of the cost of traditional ones.

“It’s not just enabling, it’s empowering,” says Gail McConnell at the University of Strathclyde in the UK. She and her colleagues previously worked out how to 3D-print lenses like those used in microscopes, which led to the breakthrough.

For the body of the…

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