Ben Butkus
Ben Butkus is editorial director of GenomeWeb. He covers technologies and trends across the omics landscape with a particular interest in molecular diagnostics, infectious disease, PCR and related nucleic acid amplification technologies, and sample prep.

Articles Authored by Ben Butkus
Molecular TB Assay From PBD Biotech Shows Promise in Detecting Latent-to-Active Disease Risk
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The blood-based assay, called Actiphage, combines phage-induced lysis of infectious bacteria and molecular detection of bacterial DNA.
The prototype assay, presented at ECCMID in Lisbon, integrates sample preparation and RT-PCR to measure a six-mRNA host signature.

COVID-19 accelerated the growth of several product portfolios, but under CEO Thierry Bernard, the company is ready to put the pandemic behind it — mostly.
Fluidigm CEO Chris Linthwaite said the company aims to further penetrate the diagnostic and clinical markets with both its microfluidics and mass cytometry businesses.

Qiagen has benefited from unexpected tailwinds due to COVID-19 testing and envisions post-pandemic growth with recently acquired NeuMoDx as a key contributor.
Oklahoma Institutions, Fluidigm Ready to Roll Out High-Throughput COVID-19 Testing
Fluidigm's Biomark HD microfluidic platform will enable more than 180,000 real-time PCR tests to be run over the next 90 days to potentially support COVID-19 screening.
Qiagen Readying Updated Respiratory Panel for Emergency Coronavirus Testing
Qiagen, which is also developing a single-plex qRT-PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2, said it will have a syndromic panel including targets for the virus ready this month.
JP Morgan Healthcare Day 3: Exact Sciences, NanoString, Natera, Horizon, Accelerate Dx, GenMark, More
Exact Sciences CEO Kevin Conroy discussed the firm's pipeline and plans for 2020 and beyond, while NanoString CEO Brad Gray talked about the company's GeoMx digital spatial profiling technology, among other presentations Wednesday.
JP Morgan Healthcare Day 2: 10x Genomics, GenapSys, Caris, Adaptive Bio, Danaher, Agilent, Luminex
On the second day of the conference, updates came not just from the publicly traded industry giants but also privately held firms of interest, such as Caris and GenapSys.

JP Morgan Healthcare Day One: Qiagen, Guardant Health, Bio-Rad, Hologic, Myriad Genetics
On Monday Qiagen reiterated its preliminary 2019 earnings figures and addressed an investor's wrath, while Guardant Health highlighted its cancer testing plans.
