A couple of reproductive biology experts

01/31/24 • 32 min

We are all the product of a reproductive process, yet reproductive biology, or the study of the processes and mechanisms involved in reproduction, is not well understood. Deepening our understanding of reproductive biology is crucial to advancing assistive reproductive technologies (ART) and advancing our collective comprehension of inheritance and evolution.

Our guests for this episode are a couple, and we mean a literal married couple, of reproductive biology experts. Dr. Pavla Brachova and Dr. Nehemiah Alvarez, both working in the Eastern Virginia Medical School’s Department of Physiological Sciences. In their collaborative work they aim to better understand and characterize the role of RNA and cellular events that impact ovarian function in women. We learn about their work with oocytes, which are single cells that grow and mature within the ovary and once fertilized provide the foundations of an embryo capable of maturing to a new individual. They outline how they use digital PCR (dPCR) and other methods to monitor RNA regulation in single cells and how progressing this work and lead to potential RNA-based therapies.

In Cassie’s career corner we hear childhood stories from each guest and learn about their respective career paths, which eventually collided and merged. They share insights on the importance of having mentors experienced in your field, the challenges of shared job searching, and the joys of collaborating as a couple with shared scientific interests.

Visit the Absolute Gene-ius page to learn more about the guests, the hosts, and the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Absolute Q Digital PCR System.

Visit the Absolute Gene-ius page to learn more about the guests, the hosts, and the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Absolute Q Digital PCR System.

Previous Episode

Can you handle the Gene-ius?

Welcome back Gene-iuses! Jordan and Cassie kick us off with a fun teaser of what’s to come in Season 2 of the Absolute Gene-ius series.

We’ll be featuring another great season of interesting guests, all using dPCR to progress their diverse research applications. This includes conversations about reproductive biology, liquid biopsy and transplantation research, CAR-T research, the role of bioinformatics in PCR assay design, micro-RNA analysis, differential gene expression analysis, and of course Cassie’s Career Corner, where we get to learn about people behind the science.

This teaser, like every episode of Absolute Gene-ius, has the fun baked in to keep it all light and interesting too. You might even hear some digital PCR jokes!

Visit the Absolute Gene-ius page to access the entire first season and to learn more about the hosts and the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Absolute Q Digital PCR System.

Next Episode

CAR-T loads of immunology insights

Blood is a symbol of life, which makes sense given that it plays such an important role in so many body functions, including our immune system. Blood makes up approximately 8% of your normal body weight and unfortunately, cancers of the blood, including lymphoma and leukemia, account for ~10% of all diagnosed cancers in the U.S. each year.

CAR-T cell therapy has emerged as a promising method to engineer a subject’s own immune cells to fight bloodborne cancer. Our guest for this episode, Raquel Munoz from the Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío in Seville Spain, is doing research in this exciting CAR-T cell therapy space. Specifically, she is working to develop methods to help better quantify and understand the expansion of CAR-T cells in the body to help monitor treatment and predict outcomes. We learn about why digital PCR was selected for her work and how it’s helped raise confidence in the results they’re getting. We even hear about how she believes this treatment will find success in treating solid tumor cancers.

In Cassie’s career corner, we learn how Raquel found her career path and love of immunology and working in a hospital setting. Raquel also shares some great career advice, stories of lab mishaps, and the dangerous hobby that she says is some of the only time she’s not thinking about work or problems.

Visit the Absolute Gene-ius page to learn more about the guests, the hosts, and the Applied Biosystems QuantStudio Absolute Q Digital PCR System.