ArticlePLoS biology2025
qByte: An open-source isothermal fluorimeter for democratizing analysis of nucleic acids, proteins and cells.
Article in PLoS biology, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed.
- Horseradish peroxidase as an electrochemical reporter protein for cell-free biosensors.Synthetic biology (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- MobileLAMP: A low-cost, portable incubation device for isothermal nucleic acid amplification.PloS one · 2026Article
- Molecular diagnostics for cutaneous leishmaniasis: progress towards fulfilling the WHO target product profile.Parasitology · 2025Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Access to affordable and reliable scientific instrumentation remains a significant barrier to the democratization of healthcare and scientific research. In the field of biotechnology, in particular, the complexity, cost, and infrastructure requirements of many instruments continue to limit their accessibility, especially in resource-limited environments. Despite the recent increase in the development of open-source tools, driven by advances in digital fabrication and electronic prototyping, few of these projects have reached large-scale implementation or validation in real-world settings. Here, we present qByte, an open-source, 8-tube isothermal fluorimeter designed to overcome these barriers by offering a cost-effective ($60) yet production-ready solution. qByte leverages standard digital manufacturing and Printed Circuit Board (PCB) assembly techniques and is designed to be portable, making it ideal for both laboratory and field use. The device has been benchmarked against commercial real-time thermocyclers and spectrophotometers, showing comparable results across four key applications: nucleic acid amplification and detection, including the on-site diagnosis of human parasites in Ghana, analysis of protein activity and stability, genetic construct characterization, and bacterial viability tests. Taken together, our results proved qByte as flexible and reliable equipment for a variety of biological tests and applications, while its affordability and open-source design simplify further development and allow adaptation to the needs of future users.
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Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.