Latest news with #Tracer
Observer
10-07-2025
- Health
- Observer
Mango crop development research enhances food security
Suhar: As part of Oman's efforts to boost agricultural sustainability and food security, the Agricultural Research Centre in Suhar, affiliated with the Directorate-General of Agricultural and Animal Research at the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources, conducted two vital studies focused on mango cultivation. These initiatives aim to improve pest management and optimise nursery planting media for mango seedlings — one of Oman's most valuable fruit crops. Mangoes are the second most cultivated fruit in Oman, covering 3,649 acres and generating over 16,000 tonnes annually. Recognising the crop's significance to national food security and economic growth, the centre undertook targeted research to tackle major challenges facing mango production, such as pest infestations and unsuitable growing environments. Mango crop development research enhances food security The first study evaluated the effectiveness of seven insecticides in controlling thrips (Frankliniella occidentalis), a pest that causes severe damage to mango seedlings. Using a randomised complete block design, researchers found that products like Plesiva Pro and Tracer achieved mortality rates, 50% maintaining efficacy for up to seven days post-application. These results offer farmers practical and sustainable pest control solutions that reduce yield losses without over reliance on chemical treatments. The second study assessed eight different agricultural media types to determine their influence on seedling growth and vigour. After one year of monitoring and analysis, the research concluded that certain uncomposted media outperformed peatmoss planting media, supporting stronger stem development and improved nutrient uptake. Mango crop development research enhances food security Dr Ali al Adawi, Director of the Agricultural Research Centre in Suhar, emphasised the strategic importance of the findings: 'This research contributes directly to national efforts to strengthen food security and promote sustainable farming practices.' 'By identifying more effective pest control methods and suitable planting media, we are helping farmers produce healthier crops with higher resilience and lower input costs. Our role as a research centre is not only to conduct experiments, but to turn knowledge into impact,' he added. These studies reflect the centre's commitment to advancing science-based agricultural practices in alignment with Oman Vision 2040. By bridging the gap between research and field application, the Agricultural Research Centre continues to empower local farmers and reinforce the resilience of the country's agricultural sector.
Techday NZ
03-07-2025
- Business
- Techday NZ
Tracer unveils AI tool to shield brands from ChatGPT fraud
Tracer AI has launched a product designed to monitor and protect brands from fraudulent activities that are perpetrated via AI chatbots, focusing on OpenAI's ChatGPT. The introduction of Tracer Protect for ChatGPT comes as enterprise concern grows about the ways in which generative AI, particularly chatbots, are being exploited to commit brand fraud, distribute counterfeits and conduct executive impersonation scams. Tracer AI's system is built to track mentions of specific brands, products, services, and executives within ChatGPT responses and to proactively identify and mitigate schemes targeting both businesses and consumers. Changing search habits The escalation in generative AI use, including ChatGPT, which reportedly has approximately 400 million weekly active users worldwide, has resulted in consumers rapidly shifting from traditional search engines such as Google to AI chatbots for information and product recommendations. Tracer AI states that this mainstream adoption and the public's general trust in chatbot answers has opened effective new channels for bad actors to carry out brand abuse campaigns. These can manifest as phishing schemes, fraudulent product recommendations, or the promotion of unsafe counterfeit goods. Mechanisms of attack According to Tracer AI, generative engine optimisation (GEO) is being used to promote fraudulent content within chatbot outputs, which often remains hidden from traditional search engines and detection tools. The result is a growing incidence of social engineering, impersonation, and narrative poisoning, in which misleading stories about brands are intentionally promoted to influence consumers and even affect how AI systems respond to future queries regarding those brands. Tracer's approach "OpenAI is already taking important steps to battle nefarious activity in ChatGPT. With Tracer Protect for ChatGPT, Tracer will now be a key pillar of a robust solution to this problem, proactively partnering with brands to remediate infringement activity on OpenAI and any links to websites, mobile apps and marketplaces engineered to prey on consumers," said Rick Farnell, CEO of Tracer. The system's architecture features Flora, Tracer's agentic AI platform, which uses experience-based learning to improve its threat detection and enforcement capabilities over time. The company claims its integration of advanced automation and human analysis allows for continuous monitoring, drastically reducing the time required to identify and respond to brand misuse, and filtering out irrelevant threats. Collaboration and platform integration Tracer Protect for ChatGPT is powered by the Universal AI Platform from Dataiku, aiming to deliver fast and accurate brand threat detection at scale within generative AI environments. "Tracer AI is leading from the front, proving that building and controlling advanced AI agents can deliver a transformative and durable business advantage, including moving towards better genAI control. By combining its Flora agent with the right analytics and its Marlin vision model through The Universal AI Platform, Tracer has shown how to translate frontier AI into real-world outcomes," explained Sophie Dionnet, Senior Vice President of Product and Business Solutions at Dataiku. "This is exactly what Dataiku was built for: enabling visionary teams to create, govern and connect AI agents that solve real-world challenges in entirely new ways while achieving measurable business impact." The product leverages proprietary Human-in-the-Loop AI (HITL) methodologies, combining algorithmic speed with review by expert analysts to ensure that enforcement decisions are legally robust and aligned with client-specific requirements. Industry perspectives "The emergence of AI chatbots as a new vector for brand manipulation is a pressing concern for enterprise organisations," said Sawyer Ramsey, Strategic Account Executive at Snowflake. "Using the Snowflake AI Data Cloud, Tracer's platform is able to achieve incredible response times to provide right-time insights for their customers. The company's proactive approach to monitoring brand reputation in AI outputs represents exactly the kind of forward-thinking protection the cybersecurity industry needs as we navigate our new digital environment and is a testament to the powerful things companies can do on our unified platform." Farnell further emphasised the heightened need for advanced digital brand protection, stating, "The urgency to get ahead of this threat cannot be overstated given the increasing ease with which fraudulent content can be generated and the unprecedented consumer shift from using search engines to now using AI chatbots. Organisations must adopt equally advanced countermeasures to protect their digital presence." "This escalating technological arms race between malicious actors and brand defenders necessitates a proactive and nuanced approach to digital security, which is why we built Tracer Protect for ChatGPT. With our first-of-its-kind brand protection product that actively monitors and analyses ChatGPT outputs to detect and neutralise brand infringements, we're helping enterprises use AI for good and get ahead of these dangerous new threats posing grave risks to brands and their customers." Expansion plans Tracer Protect for ChatGPT is the first of several planned products targeting generative AI ecosystems. Tracer AI intends to extend its monitoring and enforcement solutions to other platforms, including Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini, later in the year. The company highlights its ongoing efforts in proactive brand protection, asserting that live, targeted monitoring of large language model (LLM) outputs represents a shift from reactive to anticipatory security measures. Tracer AI's continued development in this area is marked by its use of its HITL AI, Flora, and Tracer Graph technologies. The firm has recently been recognised within the technology industry, receiving awards for both product development and leadership.
Yahoo
05-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Tracer Biotechnologies Announces Strategic Partnership with QIAGEN to Advance Blood-Based MRD Testing for Solid Tumors
NEW YORK, June 05, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tracer Biotechnologies, a leader in blood-based molecular diagnostics for cancer, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) to co-develop and commercialize minimal residual disease (MRD) assays for solid tumors on QIAGEN's QIAcuity digital PCR platform. This collaboration aims to deliver highly sensitive, cost-effective, and decentralized MRD testing solutions that enable oncologists to monitor cancer recurrence and guide personalized treatment decisions using minimally invasive blood samples. "Partnering with QIAGEN enables Tracer to bring our solid tumor MRD expertise to a broader market using a robust digital PCR platform in QIAcuity," said Mark Kaganovich, CEO of Tracer Biotechnologies. "With QIAcuity's sensitivity and scalability, we can deliver high-quality companion diagnostics that integrate seamlessly into clinical workflows and offer new options to oncologists and patients." Tracer offers two complementary MRD solutions: Tracer dPCR, a tumor-informed, multiplexed digital PCR assay that allows institutions to run bespoke MRD tests internally using their own digital PCR instruments; Tracer WGS, an AI-powered whole-genome ctDNA platform that enables ultra-sensitive tumor-agnostic detection and tracking with no need for prior tissue. "This new partnership represents an important step in further establishing QIAGEN's major role in oncology. We are bringing innovative MRD technologies into drug development through our companion diagnostic partnerships," said Jonathan Arnold, Vice President, Head of Partnering for Precision Diagnostics at QIAGEN. "In particular, we want to strengthen our scalable, cost-effective solutions based on our QIAcuity digital PCR system and enable our pharmaceutical partners to use MRD insights for guiding personalized treatment decisions for cancer patients." Tracer's mission is to turn every digital PCR machine and next-generation sequencer into a sensitive MRD assay—empowering institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and clinicians with the tools to decentralize testing, accelerate treatment decisions, and personalize cancer care. About Tracer Biotechnologies Tracer Biotechnologies is a molecular diagnostics company specializing in blood-based assays for cancer detection and monitoring. Our platform enables decentralized, high-performance MRD testing using either digital PCR or whole-genome sequencing—bringing precision oncology closer to the point of care. For more information visit About QIAGEN QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions, enabling customers to extract and gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our Sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies prepare these biomolecules for analysis while bioinformatics software and knowledge bases can be used to interpret data to find actionable insights. Automation solutions bring these processes together into seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN serves over 500,000 customers globally in Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics) and Molecular Diagnostics for clinical healthcare. As of March 31, 2025, QIAGEN employed approximately 5,700 people in over 35 locations worldwide. For more information, visit View source version on Contacts communications@ Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
05-06-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Tracer Biotechnologies Announces Strategic Partnership with QIAGEN to Advance Blood-Based MRD Testing for Solid Tumors
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tracer Biotechnologies, a leader in blood-based molecular diagnostics for cancer, is pleased to announce a strategic partnership with QIAGEN (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard: QIA) to co-develop and commercialize minimal residual disease (MRD) assays for solid tumors on QIAGEN's QIAcuity digital PCR platform. This collaboration aims to deliver highly sensitive, cost-effective, and decentralized MRD testing solutions that enable oncologists to monitor cancer recurrence and guide personalized treatment decisions using minimally invasive blood samples. 'Partnering with QIAGEN enables Tracer to bring our solid tumor MRD expertise to a broader market using a robust digital PCR platform in QIAcuity,' said Mark Kaganovich, CEO of Tracer Biotechnologies. 'With QIAcuity's sensitivity and scalability, we can deliver high-quality companion diagnostics that integrate seamlessly into clinical workflows and offer new options to oncologists and patients.' Tracer offers two complementary MRD solutions: Tracer dPCR, a tumor-informed, multiplexed digital PCR assay that allows institutions to run bespoke MRD tests internally using their own digital PCR instruments; Tracer WGS, an AI-powered whole-genome ctDNA platform that enables ultra-sensitive tumor-agnostic detection and tracking with no need for prior tissue. 'This new partnership represents an important step in further establishing QIAGEN's major role in oncology. We are bringing innovative MRD technologies into drug development through our companion diagnostic partnerships,' said Jonathan Arnold, Vice President, Head of Partnering for Precision Diagnostics at QIAGEN. 'In particular, we want to strengthen our scalable, cost-effective solutions based on our QIAcuity digital PCR system and enable our pharmaceutical partners to use MRD insights for guiding personalized treatment decisions for cancer patients.' Tracer's mission is to turn every digital PCR machine and next-generation sequencer into a sensitive MRD assay—empowering institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and clinicians with the tools to decentralize testing, accelerate treatment decisions, and personalize cancer care. About Tracer Biotechnologies Tracer Biotechnologies is a molecular diagnostics company specializing in blood-based assays for cancer detection and monitoring. Our platform enables decentralized, high-performance MRD testing using either digital PCR or whole-genome sequencing—bringing precision oncology closer to the point of care. For more information visit About QIAGEN QIAGEN N.V., a Netherlands-based holding company, is the leading global provider of Sample to Insight solutions, enabling customers to extract and gain valuable molecular insights from samples containing the building blocks of life. Our Sample technologies isolate and process DNA, RNA and proteins from blood, tissue and other materials. Assay technologies prepare these biomolecules for analysis while bioinformatics software and knowledge bases can be used to interpret data to find actionable insights. Automation solutions bring these processes together into seamless and cost-effective workflows. QIAGEN serves over 500,000 customers globally in Life Sciences (academia, pharma R&D and industrial applications, primarily forensics) and Molecular Diagnostics for clinical healthcare. As of March 31, 2025, QIAGEN employed approximately 5,700 people in over 35 locations worldwide. For more information, visit
Fibre2Fashion
30-05-2025
- Business
- Fibre2Fashion
Dutch economy posts weak growth amid falling output prices
The Dutch economy showed marginal growth in the first quarter of 2025 (Q1 2025), with GDP increasing by just 0.1 per cent quarter-on-quarter (QoQ), primarily due to a smaller reduction in inventories and higher public spending, according to Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The Dutch economy grew 0.1 per cent in Q1 2025, driven by smaller inventory reductions and higher public spending. Consumer confidence was flat, while producer sentiment worsened. Manufacturing output rose 1.3 per cent YoY in March but dipped 0.6 per cent from February. Export volumes grew 3.2 per cent YoY. Output prices fell 1.0 per cent YoY in April, led by a 29 per cent drop in crude oil prices. The CBS Business Cycle Tracer painted a more negative picture in May compared to April, with 12 out of 13 indicators performing below their long-term trend. Consumer confidence remained unchanged while producer sentiment deteriorated further, both remaining below their 20-year average. Manufacturing output in March rose 1.3 per cent year-on-year (YoY), marking the third consecutive monthly increase after a prolonged decline, although it fell 0.6 per cent compared to February, CBS said in a release. Export volumes in March were 3.2 per cent higher YoY. Despite this, employment indicators were mixed, with unemployment stable at 387,000 in April, but total hours worked down 0.5 per cent in first quarter and vacancies falling by nearly 7,000 to 395,000. Output prices for manufactured goods declined by 1.0 per cent YoY in April, influenced by a nearly 29 per cent drop in crude oil prices. Prices for petroleum products fell by 21.0 per cent, and chemical product prices dropped 3.8 per cent. Month-on-month, manufacturing output prices declined 0.7 per cent in April, with both export and domestic market prices down. Fibre2Fashion News Desk (HU)
