ioLight wins grant to develop low-cost fluorescence microscope

ioLight is delighted to announce that today we have learnt that we have been awarded an Innovate UK grant to develop a Low-cost Fluorescence Microscope prototype and trial it with customers. The total project value is £88,994 which will be 70% funded by Innovate UK.

Fluorescence microscopes are used every day in biochemistry, medical research and drug discovery / development. They are used to detect fluorescent markers (beacons) that tag specific features or molecules that scientists want to look at. They allow researchers to look at molecules that would otherwise be too small to see and to watch processes in vivo by following the beacons through the animal.

The problem is that fluorescence microscopes are very expensive, starting from £15,000. This grant potentially allows ioLight to offer a product at a fraction of that price. Such a product could become an everyday utility for bio labs across the world, as well as being used extensively in education.

The image below was taken on ioLight’s proof of concept fluorescence microscope. It is the nematode C.elegans, which has been genetically engineered to produce yellow fluorescent protein (YFP) in its oesophagus. YFP fluoresces under ioLight’s blue illumination so that it looks green.

This grant will work with the crowd funding that ioLight is currently raising, by enabling us to bring forward the development of this valuable fluorescence microscope and thus ultimately launch a product years before it would have otherwise been possible. If you would like to see our investment pitch and potentially invest in this exciting opportunity please visit our page on Crowdcube’s web site – www.crowdcube.com/iolight