Open, Flexible, for Everyone: The Startup openUC2 Makes High-­resolution Imaging Affordable – and Connects Researchers Worldwide

High-resolution microscopy is expensive and difficult to access – often available only at large research institutions in wealthy countries. OpenUC2 shows that there is another way. With the latest version of its open-source system, the team has developed a modular fluorescence microscope that enables single-molecule experiments – at only a fraction of the cost of commercial systems.

When Benedict Diederich scrolled through his news feed in April 2024, one post stopped him in his tracks. It showed students in Cameroon using a self-built microscope – assembled from openUC2 modules.

“This is the highlight of my scientific work,” he commented. “Better than any successful publication.” The post on the social media platform X came from Elisée Jafsia, an open science expert, who documented how students in Cameroon were using openUC2 to perform microscopy under open skies – just one of many examples of how the open-source technology is now being used worldwide.

Dr. Benedict Diederich founded openUC2 in 2022 together with Dr. René Lachmann from Leibniz IPHT. At the time, both were PhD students in the group of Prof. Dr. Rainer Heintzmann, working on a project to make microscopes affordable and accessible across the globe.

Since 2024, Diederich has been CEO and now leads the young company together with Haoran Wang – also a PhD student under Heintzmann – and business graduate Sebastian Trampenau. Previously, Diederich headed the “Jena Open Instrumentation” (JOIN) working group, but is now focusing fully on outreach as CEO.

Their goal: to make high-performance microscopy more flexible, affordable, and accessible – for research labs, universities, and schools worldwide. “We want to be the Raspberry Pi of optics,” says Diederich.

The Vision: To Become the Raspberry Pi of Optics

What began as a modular kit for simple optical experiments has evolved into a fully functional lab instrument. In a recent publication in eLife, Diederich, along with researchers from Freie Universität Berlin and the German Cancer Research Center, describes the latest version: an automated fluorescence microscope that rivals commercial systems – but at a fraction of the cost.

Perhaps the most significant advancement lies in the integration of highly precise single-molecule techniques. For the first time, the openUC2 microscope enables Single-Molecule Localization Microscopy (SMLM) and Single Particle Tracking (SPT) – methods previously limited to expensive specialized equipment. In the publication, the researchers demonstrate a resolution of 93 nanometers using dSTORM, a variant of super-resolution microscopy. This makes the system attractive for molecular biology applications that require visualization of individual proteins or cell structures.

Another key advancement is live-cell imaging. Thanks to its compact design, the microscope can be placed directly inside a cell culture incubator to observe living cells over several days – an advantage for cell biology, particularly long-term studies. In addition, the integration of the open-source software microEye enables immediate reconstruction of recorded images, allowing researchers to analyze experiments in real time.

More Than a Microscope – An Open Platform

But openUC2 wants to be more than just an affordable device. The open-source approach allows researchers around the world to adapt and further develop the system to meet their needs. In the eLife study, the authors emphasize that labs with limited resources in particular stand to benefit. This opens up new access to high-resolution microscopy, which until now was restricted by high costs and complex technology.

With this new technology and a steadily growing network, the team sees enormous potential: “We don’t just want to build microscopes,” says Haoran Wang. “We want to change the way science is done – open, ­flexible, and accessible to all.”

Original publikations: https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.89826.3,

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306654