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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 05/09/2026

I sued Dante Labs for taking my money and failing for 2+ years to give me sequencing results or a refund. Full story: www.reddit.com/r/DanteLabs/...

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 09/08/2026

Four years ago I missed my favourite conference ("BlinkOn") for a bad cold. It's been the biggest frustration of my lab that I couldn't find the virus that caused it. Now, that I have a 32-way panel from YouSeq.com I finally know why: It was a bacteria, H.Influenzea, not a virus at all!

The 32 targets in the YouSeq respiratory pathogen panel I ran against my 4 year old sample: C. Pneum, Mp. Pneum, L. Pneum, RNaseP, Adeno, M.Catar, P.aerug, EVD68, HPIV1, HPIV2, HPIV3, HPIV4, HRV, HCovOC43, HCoVHKU1, HCoVNL63, HBoV, HCov229E, Haem.Flu, HMPV, FluA, FluB, Covid19, RSV, K.pneum, S.pyoge, S.aurus, C.albic, S.pneum, B.pertu, A.bauma, B.parap

The positive results from the run:
Haem.Flu Cq=27.5
RNaseP (Endo ctrl) Cq=29.1
S.pneum (a common consensual bacteria) Cq=34.6

PCR amplification curves for the run. H.influenzae in orange, RNaseP positive control in red and S.pneumn(a common bacteria not necessarily pathogenic) in green.

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 02/08/2026

Instead of spending $2,000 for windows-only software for my new (used) Bio-Rad C1000/CFX96 thermocycler, I have spent the last couple weeks with Claude reverse engineering formats and protocols and building a web app! Check it out: zpcr.rbyers.ca. I'm learning SO much about how qPCR works this way!

Curves view showing PCR amplification plots along with a 96-well grid colored by sample type (green positive control, red no-template control, blue unknown sample) with plus signs for positive results. Also includes a list of respiratory virus targets. Results indicate a strong SARS-CoV-2 positive sample and some weak Enterovius and human B2M control results contaminating the no-template controls.

Instrument view showing status for a device attached by USB and prepared to start a new run with a standard thermocycling protocol and a simple two column plate layout corresponding to the results from the last screenshot.

A calibration view visualizing the TaqMan fluorophore response by temperature for two fluorophores (FAM and Cy5) using two different types of wells (clear vs. white walled).

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 02/08/2026

I'm trying to adopt agentic engineering practices in my lab work (eg. putting claude code in charge). I was worried it would screw up my pristine data but instead it's really pissing me off by identifying tons of mistakes I've made in my notes over the years!

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 21/07/2026

I finally bought a serious lab qPCR machine: Bio-Rad CFX96 Touch (96 well, 5 channels), compared to my Biomeme Franklin (9 well, 3 channels). Already I can tell I'll be able to do so much more with it!

Home lab bench showing a Bio-Rad CFX96 and other equipment.

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 18/05/2026

I'm working on a blog post for low-cost DIY SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing using a cheap miniPCR and manual fluorescence visualization. Is this visualization of positives vs. negatives clear enough?

7 PCR tubes in the p51lab.info fluorescence viewer. The first four look yellow, the last three look orange.

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 21/04/2026

There's lots of fear about what companies will do with our DNA data. Personally I go the other direction, my full genome is public: drive.google.com/drive/folder...

drive.google.com

Rick-DanteLabs-FullGenome - Google Drive

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 20/04/2026

This weekend I was happy to be invited for a discussion about at-home SARS-CoV-2 PCR testing with the "Still Coviding" group: www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4Um.... Updated slides I used: docs.google.com/presentation...

youtube.com

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 19/04/2026

I was asked today: if I was just getting started in molecular biology and and wanted a simple low-cost PCR lab for COVID testing, what would I buy? Here is my shopping list for a basic endpoint qPCR setup: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... Disclaimer: be safe and follow local laws

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 29/03/2026

Three RSV RATs I did at the same time: 1. A shallow (but thorough) nasal swab, fully negative 2/3. Deep mid-turbinate nasal swabs, clearly positive. I'm surprised by the difference. In my PCR tests of other viruses I've seen very little difference from swab depth.

A rapid antigen test with Adeno, RSV and FLU A+B lanes, all three negative.

A rapid antigen test with Adeno, RSV and FLU A+B lanes, RSV is positive, Adeno and FLU A+B not run,

A rapid antigen test with Adeno, RSV and FLU A+B lanes, RSV positive, Adeno and FLU A+B negative.

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 24/03/2026

Did another Europe cruise with my family, came home harbouring another new virus for my collection. That's three for three: Dec 2023 in the Caribbean: Influenza A July 2024 on the Danube: Parainfluenza 3 Mar 2026 on the Rhine: Respiratory syncytial virus A Perhaps I should be learning something?

Table showing all respiratory viruses I've found in myself since starting my lab.

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 23/03/2026

I sequenced my remaining 3 SARS-CoV-2 samples: - Feb 2025 I had JN.1.4.3.1 - Aug 2025 my son had PQ.24 - Feb 2026 my daughter had PQ.2.8.1 I now have 7 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from my family, nextclade puts them on the phylogenetic tree this way:

Nextclade phylogenetic chart of SARS-CoV-2 viruses from nextstrain.org, my 7 sequences are highlighted with their Pango lineage designation.

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 17/03/2026

Finally a Zoo which does the full tree of life some justice! Micropia at ARTIS Zoo Amsterdam: www.artis.nl/nl/artis-mic...

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 12/03/2026

In 1958 a gel extracted from seaweed, “iota carrageenan”, was found to dramatically reduce Influenza death in animals. In 2020 a double-blind placebo controlled study found it had an 80% reduction in SARS-COV-2 transmission (www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2...). In 2026 it’s still largely unknown.

tandfonline.com

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 21/02/2026

My teenage daughter just tested positive for COVID. I'm taking care of her this weekend. It's been two years since I've had COVID and 4 months since my last booster. Will I be able to keep from getting infected?

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 16/02/2026

SiPhox (siphoxhealth.com) is pretty awesome. I've been doing monthly blood tests for a variety of biomarkers without the hassle of going to get a blood draw. It makes it so much easier to stay on top of things like cholesterol and blood sugar, and really learn how to move them.

siphoxhealth.com

At-Home Blood Tests | Comprehensive Health Testing & Biomarker Analysis | SiPhox Health

SiPhox Health brings comprehensive, at-home blood testing to your door! Take control of your disease risk and increase your healthspan today with affordable, convenient at-home blood testing. No lab v...

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 09/02/2026

6 years and 300+ experiments later, I've concluded that sequencing all the viruses going through my house is actually slightly useful, while still wildly impractical of course! lab.rbyers.ca/essays/20260...

lab.rbyers.ca

The Utility of Home Molecular Virology | RByers Lab

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 04/02/2026

Oh oh 😬. My Google News feed thought this was a story I'd be interested in... abcnews.go.com/US/fbi-inves.... Would I get the same press coverage if police searched my house and found this? At least they'd find nothing labeled HIV or Ebola in my freezer!

Photo of lab freezer with 20 tube boxes with labels like "Samples 4" and "Probe assays".

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 02/02/2026

Wow, I am constantly impressed by Google Antigravity and Gemini 3.5 pro. I used it to build a whole blog website, including totally custom Tweet archive, in just a few hours of work! Eg. see lab.rbyers.ca/posts/2024. Code at github.com/Rbyers/lab-b....

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Rick Byers Lab @lab.rbyers.ca · 02/02/2026

I hear Science Twitter has largely moved to BlueSky, is that true? I've moved my @RickByersLab profile from X here to BlueSky. I've also archived my old tweets at lab.rbyers.ca/posts (largely because I use my tweets as my own memory).

lab.rbyers.ca

Posts | RByers Lab

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