Rick Byers Lab
@lab.rbyers.ca
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I am a citizen scientist and a molecular biology enthusiast.
https://lab.rbyers.ca
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...
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Rick-DanteLabs-FullGenome - Google Drive
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1JVfjSHQvWUUbSYBnyxj61xn2fiTJxluq
7 days ago
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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...
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4UmioVOlRA
9 days ago
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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
10 days ago
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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.
about 1 month ago
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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?
about 1 month ago
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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:
about 1 month ago
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Finally a Zoo which does the full tree of life some justice! Micropia at ARTIS Zoo Amsterdam:
www.artis.nl/nl/artis-mic...
about 1 month ago
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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.
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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.2147/IJGM.S328486
about 2 months ago
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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?
2 months ago
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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.
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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...
https://siphoxhealth.com
2 months ago
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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...
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The Utility of Home Molecular Virology | RByers Lab
https://lab.rbyers.ca/essays/20260208-utility/
3 months ago
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reposted by
Rick Byers Lab
Yes! I dream of a day when regular checkups will include a broad antibody profile like in this research:
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
.
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VirScan: High-throughput Profiling of Antiviral Antibody Epitopes
Profiling the specificities of antibodies can reveal a wealth of information about humoral immune responses and the antigens they target. Here, we present a protocol for VirScan, an application of the phage immunoprecipitation sequencing (PhIP-Seq) ...
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9303818/
3 months ago
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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!
3 months ago
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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...
.
3 months ago
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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).
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Posts | RByers Lab
https://lab.rbyers.ca/posts
3 months ago
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