Dnaitech

06/11/2025

TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION NETWORK
Yesterday, we attended the TIN awards night in Auckland at the Cloud and are grateful to have received one of the early stage company awards. Thank you, TIN, for this recognition. It is inspiring to see all the winners across various categories and to witness the vibrancy of the tech sector in New Zealand. These moments are to be savored on the start-up journey, and seeing so many mature companies born in New Zealand emerge as global players is truly motivating.

16/10/2025

ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE: A GLOBAL THREAT TO HUMAN HEALTH

There is an alarming worldwide increase in antibiotic resistance. According to a new WHO report, between 2018 and 2023, antibiotic resistance rose in over 40% of the pathogen-antibiotic combinations, with an annual average increase of 5-15%. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General, says antimicrobial resistance (AMR) outpaces modern medical advances. The Global antibiotic resistance surveillance report 2025 covers eight common bacterial pathogens that are rising in antibiotic resistance. These pathogens, which include Acinetobacter spp., Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Salmonella spp., Shigella spp., Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, are significant due to their widespread prevalence and the severity of the diseases they cause.
Remoteness from laboratory diagnostic services usually means AMR screening is unavailable, and doctors need to prescribe without antibiotic sensitivity data. These situations can lead to prescribing inappropriate antibiotics, which can worsen the patient's condition, develop more resistant strains of bacteria, and increase healthcare costs. This not only risks the life of the patient but also contributes to the overuse of last resort antibiotics. Not surprisingly, AMR is highly prevalent in war zones, where emergency life-saving treatments must occur in the absence of access to clinical diagnostic services.
Point-of-care diagnostic technology that can identify the pathogen and its antibiotic resistance status will become critical as a toolkit for addressing this worldwide problem.
DNAiTECH’s Gen3 portable LAMP-CRISPR technology is a versatile solution deployed anywhere to identify such pathogens rapidly. Being a battery-powered device, operational for multiple days without recharge, it ensures that power constraints do not hinder the diagnostic process, making it a reliable tool in various settings, such as primary care, veterinary care, LMIC situations, and conflict zones. DNAiTECH’s technology employs the powerful isothermal method LAMP, with CRISPR as the secondary proof-reading reaction, providing high sensitivity and specificity. The images provided illustrate the effectiveness of DNAiTECH’s technology in identifying Staphylococcus aureus by targeting the 16s and femA gene targets, as well as detecting mecA, the AMR marker. This approach differentiates MSSA (methicillin-sensitive) and MRSA (methicillin-resistant) strains. The graphical time course shows the CRISPR readout at 0, 5 and 10 minutes of colour development.

02/09/2025

SENEGAL BOUND!

I'm heading to Senegal tomorrow with technology and diagnostic kits. In December 2024, the Gen3 technology platform development began, leading to the successful delivery of alpha versions of innovative point-of-care devices in record time. Packed and ready are five portable Gen3 instruments and two battery-powered sample preparation devices. Tomorrow, I'm heading to Dakar with 140 diagnostic chips for yellow fever and measles.

Gratitude is extended to those who made this milestone possible. Institut Pasteur Dakar (IPD), especially Cheikh Tidiane Diagne , Andy Diouf, Oumar Ndiaye, and Oumar Faye, for reaching out to DNAiTECH. Canadian Grand Challenges for funding IPD, enabling these proof-of-concept projects. Sprout Agritech's investment in DNAiTECH supported this technology development. Acknowledgment to Drazen Jaksic and David Swarbrick for their brilliant design work, to the DNAiTECH team in Blenheim – Calum, Honey, and Leeann – for their hard work in integrating innovative biochemistry into this technology. Thanks to the DNAiTECH Board – Kevin Darling, Rick Christie, and Marie Leroux – for their tremendous support. This diverse and talented group has brought this milestone to life. Remembering the Maori proverb: "He aha te mea nui o te ao? He tāngata, He tangata, He tangata!" What is the greatest thing? It is people, it is people, it is people.

12/07/2025

DNAiTECH's vision is to bring innovative point-of-care molecular diagnostics to detect pathogens, anywhere, for agritech, veterinary and biomedical applications. In 2024, we were approached by the Institut Pasteur de Dakar (IPD) for the development of rapid point-of-care tests for measles and yellow fever. We have worked on this project for the last 12 months, and during these past two weeks, we have completed a significant key milestone. Andy Diouf, a scientist with IPD travelled from Dakar to Blenheim and joined the team to test our hardware and chip technology on real-world measles and yellow fever RNA samples. We had a fantastic time with Andy. While the sample numbers were small, we are pleased to report 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The next milestone will be a real-world trial in the field in Senegal, with larger numbers of clinical samples and all the temperature and humidity challenges that will come with it. But we aim to be ready for it!
Read Stuffs' report on Andy Diouf's visit here.

https://www.thepress.co.nz/nz-news/360751506/marlborough-technology-help-combat-measles-senegal

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12/02/2025

2024 was a great year for DNAiTECH, with Sprout coming on board and investing in DNAiTECH and our vision for point-of-care diagnostics. In 2024, we also welcomed very talented people across DNAiTECH’s Board, Advisory Board and the R&D team. We acknowledge these key people for their willingness to be part of the DNAiTECH journey, Professor Wayne Patrick, Professor Warren Tate, Rick Christie, Kevin Darling, Dr Shirli Notcovich, Marie Leroux and Leeann Kerr. As the Māori proverb says, what is the most important thing: "He tangata, he tangata he tangata", It is people, it is people, it is people. We are confident about our future because we have awesome technology under development, fantastic investment partners in Sprout, and very talented people to help guide the journey. Read about the expanding team here.

DNAiTECH Ltd is a New Zealand-based biotechnology company developing innovative point-of-care (POC) diagnostics systems. We aim to meet the challenge of POC testing, fulfil the World Health Organisation’s ASSURED criteria, and deliver rapid, robust molecular tests beyond the laboratory.

25/09/2024

MEASLES POINT-OF-CARE DIAGNOSTICS

DNAiTECH is contributing to a new project, “Development of a Molecular Rapid Detection Test for Measles Virus Diagnosis” supported by Grand Challenges Canada funding to Fondation Institut Pasteur de Dakar.
Measles is a serious and highly contagious disease. It can cause serious problems, including brain swelling, chest infections, or death. Since covid, there has been a resurgence of measles cases worldwide, caused by a reduction in vaccination during the pandemic and a rise in vaccine hesitancy.
At DNAiTECH we have developed PLACID, “paper-based LAMP CRISPR integrated diagnostics. This is a diagnostic chip technology, enabling the definitive molecular detection of pathogens. We anticipate trials with PLACID diagnostic chips for measles and rubella to be tested with scientists from the Fondation Institut Pasteur de Dakar in Senegal in early 2025.

24/07/2024

DNAiTECH is very pleased to welcome Dr Honey Gupta to the team. Honey is a recent graduate from the University Canterbury and brings new skills in mechanical engineering, electronics and biomaterials. She will be a great asset to our ongoing diagnostics development. Over the years Callaghan Innovation has strongly supported our journey at DNAiTECH. Thank you Callaghan for funding this position.

Honey's bio is as follows.
As a researcher, I am fascinated by the interface between materials and engineering and their use in life sciences applications. A background in engineering and a passion for materials science led me to pursue my Master's in Nanoscience and Technology and PhD in mechanical engineering. I finished my PhD from UC in mechanical engineering specialising on biomaterials. My PhD thesis focused on developing aerogels for applications in encapsulating and delivering bioactive compounds. I thrive on creating novel ideas and developing practical solutions to problems that are of wide relevance. My specific fields of interest include biomaterials and functional polymers. I now hope to use my background in engineering and materials research to contribute to developing innovative solutions to solve complex scientific problems!

13/12/2023

S-TECH: DNAiTECH'S SAMPLE PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY

In 2023 we launched S-TECH, our sample processing technology for our point-of-care diagnostics tests. S-TECH enables sample processing beyond the lab, without requiring the equipment of a modern laboratory. With S-TECH, nucleic acid samples can be prepared from any sample type. To date, the samples tested include tissue biopsies, nasal and throat swabs, blood samples, f***l samples, urine samples, plant tissue, soil samples, bacterial cultures, bee-hive samples and environmental water samples. For all of these sample types, the S-TECH nucleic acid extraction system uses two filters (A+B), the B filter incorporates the classical glass-fibre capture of DNA, yielding DNA that is inhibitor free and readily amplifiable by isothermal methods.

As well as nucleic acid extractions, another form of S-TECH can be used for the isolation of subcellular particles such as EV and microvesicles. The use of EV's in diagnostics is a rapidly growing area, isolation of EVs non-invasively has great potential for disease detection. By incorporating track-etched membranes into S-TECH, subcellular particles can be readily isolated using our S-TECH-EV filter. A video demonstrating the simplicity of using our single S-TECH-EV filter to isolate subcellular particles from urine is shown below.

05/10/2023

01/09/2023

Our CMEA Awards open day is coming up on the 14th of September. Registration link is below and RSVP by Sept 8th

19/08/2023

PLACID TECHNOLOGY COMBINED WITH S-TECH NUCLEIC ACID EXTRACTION

According to the World Health Organization, an ideal POC diagnostic must be Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid/Robust, Equipment-free and Deliverable (ASSURED). DNAiTECH is focused on delivering POC diagnostics fulfilling the ASSURED criteria. In 2023 we have developed PLACID (paper-based LAMP CRISPR integrated diagnostics). PLACID systems are low cost because they rely on paper-based microfluidics, they are robust because they use LAMP amplification of the target, and they are highly specific because coupling LAMP with CRISPR eliminates the sporadic issue of nonspecific amplification of LAMP-alone. With PLACID, the CRISPR fluorescence output is visually intense so that positive reactions are visible to the naked eye or detectable with a smartphone camera. Our PLACID cartridge and reader technology will be available from mid-2024 and will enable the simultaneous running of multiple diagnostic cards with multiple target sequences in a small portable, battery powered device.
Combined with PLACID, DNAiTECH has also developed S-TECH, an innovative approach for purification of nucleic acids. S-TECH is designed for isolation of highly pure nucleic acid samples beyond the laboratory, with POC diagnostics in mind. To-date, S-TECH has been used for DNA isolation from tissue biopsies, nasal and throat swabs, blood, f***l and urine samples as well as plant tissue, soil, and beehive samples. In all these instances, S-TECH has produced highly purified amplifiable DNA, without requiring laboratory equipment such as spin columns, centrifuges, vortex mixers etc.
PLACID is a disruptive approach to POC diagnostics, our goal is the delivery of ASSURED diagnostic systems, to contribute to the collective effort to drive towards a world where access to disease detection and treatment is understood to be a fundamental human right.

16/06/2023

Towards POC detection of methicillin resistance using LAMP-CRISPR diagnostics

Over a century, we have gone from the breakthrough discovery of antibiotics to witnessing an alarming progressive decline of their effectiveness, as antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to rise. Some strains of bacteria have become “superbugs”, developing resistance to multiple forms of treatment. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) affects all countries, however sub-Saharan Africa is bearing a particularly heavy burden. AMR directly caused 1.27 million deaths globally in 2019 and contributed to an additional 4.95 million deaths. This makes it a bigger killer than HIV or malaria. Predicted mortality annually by 2050 could be as high as 10 million. In the case of sepsis, rapid diagnostic testing is of paramount importance. To discriminate at POC between MRSA and MSSA (methicillin susceptible), simultaneous testing of staph specific genes (nuc, femA) and the methicillin resistance variants (mecA, mecB, mecC) is required. Such diagnostic testing will be feasible using DNAiTECHs low-cost method PLACID: paper-based LAMP-CRISPR integrated diagnostics.
Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) is a rapid method for molecular amplification; however, it is prone to false positive detection when using non-specific indicators such as dsDNA binding dyes. Using CRISPR combined with LAMP, we confer high specificity and sensitivity with intense visual fluorescence coming up within a minute. The effectiveness of combining LAMP with CRISPR is demonstrated below with amplification of mecA.
Left LAMP reaction alone showing mecA positive sample and a delayed negative control reaction.
Middle When the same LAMP products were tested for Cas12a activity in tubes, only the mecA positive reaction generated fluorescence, the signal reached full intensity within 3 minutes. The insert shows the smartphone camera image of the tube fluorescence at the end of the reaction on the DNAiTECH Gen2 instrument. 1 negative control, 2 positive control.
Right: Testing the LAMP-CRISPR on DNAiTECH’s PLACID chips. Only the +mecA was positive, and the visibly intense fluorescence signal was detected on the chip within a minute.