Cooper Genomics has licensed BioSkryb Genomics’ proprietary ResolveDNA genomic amplification technology to enhance Cooper’s preimplantation genetic testing (PGT) capabilities. The agreement will also permit Cooper to market and distribute the BioSkryb technology for the PGT and women’s reproductive health market globally. Charles Smith PhD, executive vice president of Life Science…

Researchers at the Feinstein Institutes published research findings yesterday in BMC Medicine, that shows the ability to diagnose endometriosis from the molecular and genetic makeup of endometrial tissue shed into the menstrual effluent (ME). The findings bring the possibility of a non-invasive diagnostic for this common debilitating condition that affects…

Research led by the Wellcome Sanger Institute near Cambridge has mapped the cells involved in the development of the ovaries and testes, which controls whether someone will become male or female. The work forms part of the Human Cell Atlas project, an initiative to map all the cells in the…

With eyes on the future of the coming wave of approved, personalized cell therapies for a range of diseases, life sciences company GoodCell announced it is launching its Personal Biobanking Service that allows individuals to proactively collect and store their stems cells that can be used in the future for…

A possible genetic cause of spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) has been identified by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). The mutations they linked to the condition are in genes that control the production of fibrillar collagen, the most abundant protein in the extracellular matrix or “scaffolding” that gives shape,…

New research conducted by Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Oxford, the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Bayer AG, offers novel insight into how to treat endometriosis. The researchers performed genetic analyses of humans and rhesus macaques to identify a specific gene, NPSR1, that increases risk of endometriosis. The study…

A meta-analysis of nearly 200,000 men has revealed 22 new genetic locations that could be susceptible to inherited testicular germ cell tumors (TGCT). The findings increase by 40% the number of regions known to be associated with this type of cancer. The multi-institutional meta-analysis was conducted by researchers from the…

When it comes to the data-driven transformation of healthcare enabled through precision medicine “there is perhaps no more poignant example than the response to the COVID-19 pandemic,” NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., and Joshua C. Denny, M.D., CEO of the All of Us Research Program observed in a…

A large-scale, trans-ethnic, association study finds the risk of sporadic and multiple miscarriages is partly driven by maternal genetic variation, possibly related to placental biology. Researchers at the Estonian Genome Center at the University of Tartu describe newly discovered associations between miscarriage and maternal genes in their Nature Communications paper, which…

An especially painful and invasive form of endometriosis could be treated epigenetically, report scientists based at Michigan State University (MSU). To demonstrate this possibility, the scientists pharmacologically inhibited P300, a protein implicated in the dysregulation of endometrial epithelial cells, which normally line the uterus. In severe endometriosis, P300 enjoys relatively…

Women with endometriosis, a painful condition that causes womb-like tissue to grow outside the uterus, have epigenetic changes in the DNA of their reproductive cells that may predispose them to developing the condition. “The findings raise the possibility that differences in methylation patterns could one day be used to diagnose…

Microbial genomics company uBiome has awarded researchers at Stanford University a grant to study the role of abnormal semen microbiome in infertility. The goal of the study—led by Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Barry Behr, Ph.D., and Sara Vaughn, M.D., a fellow in reproductive endocrinology and infertility—is to analyze the…

A new study by researchers at Yale School of Medicine has concluded that progesterone receptor (PR) levels are an important predictor of whether women with endometriosis will respond to first-line treatment for the disease. Progestin-based therapies such as oral contraceptives serve as first-line treatments for managing endometriosis-associated pain. But response…

Igenomix has launched a molecular diagnostic that according to the company is the first designed to detect chronic endometritis in women with infertility. The company’s Analysis of Infectious Chronic Endometritis (ALICE) diagnostic is designed to detect the nine pathogens responsible for chronic endometritis, including Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus, Streptococcus, Staphylococcus, Mycoplasma and…

New evidence from investigators at the University of Tokyo and Tohoku University in Japan has revealed a molecular mechanism that controls how lifestyle choices and the external environment affect gene expression. This mechanism includes potential targets for next-generation drug discovery efforts to treat metabolic diseases including diabetes and obesity. The…