Venue: Ashoka University
Day/Date: Monday, May 21st, 2024
Foldscope Day 2 @ LGP - An exploration

Today’s Foldscope workshop session was a unique experience; one that memorably elucidated the real-world applications of the Foldscope as an invaluable instrument in the forensic sciences. We staged a mini ‘crime-scene,’ using the Foldscope 2.0 to analyze different types of ‘evidence’ that a hypothetical murderer left behind at a crime scene. This included head and body hair, fibers of clothes, fingerprints, and saliva.
As a hobby microscopist, I’ve seen hair under a compound microscope several times. Despite this, I think the Foldscope 2.0’s results are of a far higher quality than a significantly larger and more expensive scope. It also allowed me to visualize anatomical structures that I’ve only seen in textbooks before, like the hair bulb and Arrector Pili muscle (Pictures attached below).

Vellus hair bulb with arrector pili muscle still attached, 340x


Scales on vellus hair, 340x


Head hair with darker central medulla and keratin scales visible, 340x



While I didn’t take any pictures of the saliva and fiber samples, I did sketch all my observations in my journal, as seen below.


Overall, the second session of LGP’s Foldscope Workshop was an illuminating experience that broadened my understanding of the applications of the Foldscope and microscopy in general to forensics and helped hone my skills of focusing and taking pictures through the Foldscope 2.0.