ArticlePLoS biology2023
Open hardware: From DIY trend to global transformation in access to laboratory equipment.
Article in PLoS biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 32 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
32 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Low-cost social robot designs for education: a review.Frontiers in robotics and AI · 2026Pooled it
- An epifluorescence microscope design for naturalistic behavior and cellular activity in freely moving Caenorhabditis elegans.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Evaluation of sterilizable 3D-printed cell culture platforms using multiple FDM materials and their effects on cell behavior.Applied microbiology and biotechnology · 2026Article
- Inkube: an all-in-one solution for neuron culturing, electrophysiology, and fluidic exchange.Lab on a chip · 2026Article
- Open-source, low-cost 3D-printable testbed for in-body optical wireless communications research.HardwareX · 2026Article
- Biocoin: an open-source wearable platform for multiplexed and multimodal biosensing.Npj biosensing · 2026Article
- Advancing IoT in the lab: Next generation Gateway-Module for laboratory device integration.HardwareX · 2025Article
- Improving a photosynthetic bioprocess with a ubiquitous additive: Using clay powder in the cultivation ofBiotechnology reports (Amsterdam, Netherlands) · 2025Article
- Open Raman Microscopy (ORM): A Modular Hardware and Software Framework for Accessible Raman Imaging.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- A roadmap for the widespread adoption of frugal microscopes.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Article
- BIO-SPEC: An open-source bench-top parallel bioreactor system.HardwareX · 2025Article
- Droplet microfluidics for single-cell studies: a frontier in ecological understanding of microbiomes.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2025Review
- Article
- AutoScan3D: A low-cost, portable photogrammetry system for automated 3D digitization of anatomical specimens.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- AI-based hardware and software tools in microscopy to boost research in immunology and virology.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- BioMag 1: A magnetic approach for efficient enzyme and microorganism reuse in biochemical processes for energy and food industries.PloS one · 2025Article
- Article
- Development of a simple, low-cost, blue light-emitting diode illuminator for hands-on training of DNA detection experiments using agarose gel electrophoresis.Journal of microbiology & biology education · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Open hardware solutions are increasingly being chosen by researchers as a strategy to improve access to technology for cutting-edge biology research. The use of DIY technology is already widespread, particularly in countries with limited access to science funding, and is catalyzing the development of open-source technologies. Beyond financial accessibility, open hardware can be transformational for the access of laboratories to equipment by reducing dependence on import logistics and enabling direct knowledge transfer. Central drivers to the adoption of appropriate open-source technologies in biology laboratories around the world are open sharing, digital fabrication, local production, the use of standard parts, and detailed documentation. This Essay examines the global spread of open hardware and discusses which kinds of open-source technologies are the most beneficial in scientific environments with economic and infrastructural constraints.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.