Catching diseases before they spread
NUXA replaces central laboratories with fast, cheap, and on-site molecular diagnostics to find diseases in 30 minutes, not days
One technology.
Any disease.
No lab required.
NUXA works on-site: in a greenhouse, at a water intake, or on a farm, giving a result before a sample could even reach the lab.
On-site result
A result in the field in under 30 minutes. No sample shipping, no multi-day wait for a lab report.
Flexible by design
A new disease guide can be designed in days, not months, because of proprietary Argonaute-based detection technology.
A fraction of the cost
Significantly cheaper than market-standard PCR because of a fundamentally different approach: no laboratories, no transportation, no trained personnel.
A solution for every industry
Agriculture & Horticulture
Is your plant sick, and does your irrigation water carry diseases?
Water & Built Environment
Can I drink this water, and does my HVAC system have legionella in it?
Veterinary & Animal Health
Are my animals sick, and is it spreading through the herd?
Human Health
Do people carry diseases ranging from Ebola to antibiotic-resistant infections?
Molecular diagnostics inspired by the bacterial immune system
NUXA's platform uses a prokaryotic Argonaute protein guided by a short RNA sequence to detect any target
Fast
Central laboratories take days to deliver a result. With NUXA, we reduce this to under 30 minutes.
Any disease and mutation
Because of the unrestricted guide sequence design, NUXA can find any disease and mutation unlike other on-site technologies.
On-site operation
Isothermal and one-pot, NUXA is fully compatible with simple field readouts independent of laboratory equipment.
Curious what on-site diagnostics could do for you?
Whether you're a grower, a water utility, or a research partner, we would like to hear about your use case.
On-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
Finding diseases in every industry
One diagnostic platform able to solve a problem in every industry
Agriculture
Aquaculture
Food safety
Veterinary
Human Health
Water & Environment
Biosecurity & Conservation
Biodefense
Crime & Forensics
Pharma & Biotech Manufacturing
Industrial / Built Environment
Don't see your use case?
We're sure we can find a solution.
Get in touch >On-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
Diseases are killing crops
A single undetected virus or fungus can wipe out a greenhouse or an entire field before symptoms are even visible to the eye. By the time a grower ships a sample to a lab and waits days for a result, the infection has often already spread, turning a contained problem into a total crop loss.
One technology to catch them all
A sample of the diseases NUXA can detect on-site.
Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV)
A highly stable, fast-spreading virus that has forced growers across Europe to destroy entire tomato and pepper crops. Conventional resistance genes don’t stop it, and by the time symptoms show, neighbouring greenhouses are often already infected.
Xylella fastidiosa
The bacterium behind olive quick decline syndrome, Pierce’s disease in grapevines, and citrus variegated chlorosis. Once confirmed, EU biosecurity rules can require destroying every host plant within a defined radius, making early, on-site detection critical.
Potato late blight (Phytophthora infestans)
The disease behind the 19th-century Irish potato famine still costs growers billions of euros a year. It can move through a field within days under humid conditions, so a lab turnaround of even two to three days can be the difference between a treated patch and a lost harvest.
Fusarium wilt
A soil-borne fungus with no effective treatment once established, currently threatening the Cavendish banana supply worldwide. It spreads through contaminated soil, water, and equipment, making rapid on-site screening the main line of defence.
Right where the crop is
On-site result
A visual result in under 30 minutes.
Flexible by design
A new disease guide can be designed in days.
A fraction of the cost
Significantly cheaper than sending samples to a lab for PCR testing, with no shipping and no waiting.
Growing under glass, in open fields, or producing seed? Tell us which disease you need to catch.
Get in touchOn-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
Diseases are hiding in the water you trust
A cooling tower, a drinking water main, or a building’s plumbing can carry a dangerous disease for weeks before anyone notices. Standard water testing takes days to confirm a result. By the time the lab report comes back, guests have already showered, patients have already been exposed, and a whole building may need to be flagged.
One technology to catch them all
A sample of the diseases NUXA can detect on-site, straight from the water or the system itself.
Legionella pneumophila
Causes Legionnaires’ disease and is closely linked to cooling towers, hot tubs, and building HVAC and plumbing systems. Outbreaks have shut down hospitals and hotels because standard culture tests can take up to ten days to confirm.
Cryptosporidium
A chlorine-resistant parasite behind some of the largest drinking-water outbreaks on record, including one that sickened more than 400,000 people in Milwaukee.
Naegleria fowleri
The so-called “brain-eating amoeba,” found in warm freshwater and poorly maintained pipes or splash pads. Infections are rare but almost always fatal, which makes speed of detection critical for public warnings.
Sulfate-reducing bacteria
Silently corrode pipelines, ballast tanks, and industrial water systems from the inside, causing failures long before any visible damage appears.
Right at the tap, the tower, or the tank
On-site result
A visual result in under 30 minutes.
Flexible by design
A new disease guide can be designed in days.
A fraction of the cost
Significantly cheaper than sending samples to a lab for PCR testing, with no shipping and no waiting.
Do you manage a drinking water utility, a building’s HVAC system, or an industrial water system? We would like to hear about your use case.
Get in touchOn-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
Sick animals don’t wait for lab results
Disease moves through a herd, flock, or pond far faster than a courier can reach a lab. By the time a vet gets a result back, a farm may have already lost animals, spread the infection to neighbouring sites, or triggered a costly quarantine.
One technology to catch them all
A sample of the diseases NUXA can detect on the farm.
Salmonella
One of the most common causes of foodborne illness, carried by poultry, pigs, and cattle and by their feed. Infected animals often show no symptoms, so a herd or flock can pass it into the food chain long before anyone suspects an infection.
African swine fever virus
A haemorrhagic disease with near-100% mortality in pigs and no vaccine in most regions. It has wiped out large shares of pig populations across Asia and Europe since 2018.
Avian influenza (bird flu)
H5N1 and related strains have forced the culling of hundreds of millions of poultry worldwide. Early on-farm detection is the difference between isolating one barn and losing an entire flock.
Bluetongue virus
A vector-borne disease affecting cattle and sheep, spread by biting midges. A resurgence across Northwest Europe, including the Netherlands, has forced farmers to isolate herds and flocks while confirmation is pending.
Right next to your animal
On-site result
A visual result in under 30 minutes.
Flexible by design
A new disease guide can be designed in days.
A fraction of the cost
Significantly cheaper than sending samples to a lab for PCR testing, with no shipping and no waiting.
Do you manage livestock, poultry, or aquaculture? We would like to hear about your use case.
Get in touchOn-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
The wait for a lab result can cost a life
Hospitals, outbreak responders, and public health teams often wait days for a definitive disease identification. During that wait, an infection can spread through a body and a community, turning a containable case into an outbreak.
One technology to catch them all
A sample of the diseases NUXA can detect at the point of care.
SARS-CoV-2
The virus behind COVID-19 showed how fast a disease can spread while testing capacity lags days behind. Wastewater and rapid on-site testing became essential tools during the pandemic.
MRSA
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a leading cause of hospital-acquired infections. ICUs often isolate suspected carriers for days while awaiting lab confirmation, tying up beds and staff.
Ebola virus
A haemorrhagic fever whose outbreaks have overwhelmed regional health systems. The speed of case confirmation determines whether an outbreak is contained in one village or spreads across a region.
Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae
A so-called “nightmare bacteria” resistant to last-resort antibiotics, capable of spreading through a hospital faster than most labs can confirm and isolate it.
Right at the bedside
On-site result
A visual result in under 30 minutes, everywhere in the world, even without continuous electricity.
Flexible by design
A new disease guide can be designed in days.
A fraction of the cost
Significantly cheaper than sending samples to a lab for PCR testing, with no shipping, no cold chain and no waiting.
Do you run a hospital ward, a public health lab, or an outbreak response team? We would like to hear about your use case.
Get in touchOn-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
A new way to find diseases
Our patented diagnostics technology is built upon years of research at Wageningen University to detect any disease of choice, on-site. NUXA’s platform uses a prokaryotic Argonaute protein, guided by a short RNA sequence, to locate a specific disease’s DNA or RNA.
Inspired by the bacterial immune system
Argonaute proteins are part of the defence system prokaryotes use against foreign DNA. Loaded with a short RNA guide, the protein recognises one specific nucleotide sequence. Change the guide, and the same platform detects a different disease.
Three easy steps to get a result
Sample preparation, detection, and readout all happen in the hands of the person taking the sample.
Sample preparation
A small tube is filled with raw sample and prepares it for detection. No specialist training required.
Argonaute reaction
Inside the NUXA reagent, the Argonaute–guide RNA complex searches the sample for the target disease’s DNA or RNA sequence.
Visual readout
The activated Argonaute gives a visible result in under 30 minutes — on a lateral flow strip or on the reader.
Why NUXA beats the alternatives
Fast
Central laboratories take days to deliver a result. With NUXA, we reduce this to under 30 minutes.
Any disease and mutation
Because of the unrestricted guide sequence design, NUXA can find any disease and mutation unlike other on-site technologies.
On-site operation
Isothermal and one-pot, NUXA is fully compatible with simple field readouts independent of laboratory equipment.
A suitable product for every industry
The same detection chemistry, in two formats: a single-use test anyone can read by eye, and a reader for sites that test at volume.
The single-use test
A disposable test in the format everyone already knows from at-home COVID tests. Add the sample and read the result by eye.
The reader
A compact device that reads the cartridge, works without electricity, and logs every result in the cloud.
Whether you want the technical detail or see a demonstration, we would like to walk you through it.
Get in touchOn-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
Fast, cheap molecular diagnostics, everywhere
NUXA is a future spin-off from Wageningen University, one of the world’s leading institutions in agriculture, food, and life sciences. Our sole goal is to deliver cheap, fast, and on-site molecular diagnostics to find diseases in every industry.
Founder-led, from the lab to the field
Daniel Besselink
Co-founder & CEO
Dr. Patrick Barendse
Co-founder & CTO
Dr Daan Swarts
Advisor · Associate Professor, Wageningen University
Whether you’re curious about the science, the team, or where we’re headed, we would like to hear from you.
Get in touchOn-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
Help build fast and cheap diagnostics for everyone
NUXA is a small, early-stage team aiming to make a real difference. If you want real responsibility from day one, this is a good place to be.
Be nice & collaborative: we aim to bring out each other’s strengths and encourage growth.
Be fast & experimental: we try, we fail, we learn, and we improve.
Be transparent & proactive: we speak our minds freely and appreciate constructive feedback.
Intrinsically motivated: we are an ambitious team that wants to make a difference in the world.
No open positions right now
We still read every open application. If you think you should be on this team, tell us why.
On-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
This will be updated soon
Company milestones, research updates, and field trials will be posted here. In the meantime, follow us on LinkedIn.
On-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen
Tell us about your use case
Growers, utilities, vets, hospitals, and research partners: if you have a disease you need to catch on-site, we would like to hear about it.
Send a message
On-site molecular diagnostics, wherever you need them
6708 WH Wageningen