Playing classic video games like Pac-Man with living single-celled microbes thinner than a human hair is now possible thanks to an interactive microscope developed by bioengineers at Stanford University.
PALO ALTO Playing classic video games like Pac-Man with living single-celled microbes thinner than a human hair is now possible thanks to an interactive microscope developed by bioengineers at Stanford University.
After several prototypes, the researchers released blueprints earlier this month for a “LudusScope” in the international scientific journal PLOS ONE, offering kids of all ages a playful window into the world of microbiology.
“It’s a microscope that you can 3D print and build yourself,” Ingmar Riedel-Kruse, an assistant professor of bioengineering at Stanford, told Reuters.
After it is assembled, tiny, light-responsive organisms called Euglena swim on a microscope slide surrounded by four LED lights. The lights are controlled by a joystick, allowing users to control the direction in which the microbes move.
“You turn microscopy from something that is purely observational into something that is interactive,” Riedel-Kruse said.
The final component is a smartphone that attaches to the eyepiece of the device, transforming it from a simple interactive microscope into a rudimentary gaming platform and research tool.
The scientists at the Palo Alto-based university have developed software programs that overlay on top of the image of cells. By selecting specific cells, users can influence their movement and guide them through a maze that resembles the 1980s video game Pac-Man. Kids can also play soccer by steering their microbes through goal posts.
The games, according to Riedel-Kruse, evolve into basic research.
“You can select a cell, track it and collect data about it that you can then analyze and discuss,” Riedel-Kruse said. “You can really do simple research in educational settings.”
Using the plans publicly published, anyone can build a LudusScope now, but Riedel-Kruse said assembly is complex.
He plans to use recently awarded grant money to further develop the microscope into a ready-to-use science kit that he hopes will be commercially available in 2018.
(Reporting by Ben Gruber in Palo Alto- Editing by Melissa Fares and Frances Kerry)
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