Rick Byers Lab

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!

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!

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!

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?

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...

I appreciate that I am privileged in that I live in a country, Canada, where I trust my government to protect me from genetic discrimination and surveillance. But we should all demand this freedom from our governments.

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

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

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

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.

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:

PQ is a recombinant variant which includes a spike gene derived from JN.1, which is what the Fall 2025 mRNA vaccines targeted. So my daughter should have had some good protection and indeed her illness was very mild (was shocked to learn it was COVID). The JN.1 shot came too late for me and my son.

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

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?

Oh and her PCR test is one of the highest viral loads I've ever seen, 8x higher than any other SARS-CoV-2 I've sampled!

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.

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.