Scientists reprograming ovarian cells in bid to eliminate menopause
What you need to know:
- The experts are further building a platform for ovarian therapeutics to address menopause and improve assisted fertility.
- Gameto also said it wants to synchronise the pace of ovarian aging to the rate of aging in other organs such as the liver, brain, or skin.
A biotechnology start-up based in the US known as Gameto is working to solve the problem of accelerated ovarian aging in effort to change the trajectory of women’s health and equality.
While announcing that it has raised $20 million (Sh 2,266,000,000) in funding, the start-up explained that it was aiming at redefining reproductive longevity by reprograming ovarian cells.
Dr Dina Radenkovic, a medical doctor originally from Serbia and the CEO of Gameto, is very clear on the mission. “Ovaries age five times faster than other organs, resulting in infertility, early menopause and increased years of poor health for women. We want to change the narrative of female reproductive longevity and address the root causes of sex/gender inequality in our society.”
“With some of the initial research conducted at the George Church lab at Harvard Medical School, Gameto has achieved ground-breaking results in creating the first human reprogrammed cells of the ovary (granulosa cells and oocytes precursors) to solve the problem of accelerated ovarian aging, which occurs up to five times faster than any organ in the body,” an official press release explained.
The experts are further building a platform for ovarian therapeutics to address menopause and improve assisted fertility with three sequenced programmes; Fertilo – To improve assisted fertility and with the mission to eliminate infertility over time for all women, Deovo – To initiate drug discovery and a computational platform for ovarian aging and Ameno – Aiming to make the medical burden of menopause optional.
“Based on the rapid aging nature of ovaries, they are an excellent model to study human aging.”
Gameto also said it wants to synchronise the pace of ovarian aging to the rate of aging in other organs such as the liver, brain, or skin.
“When ovaries are termed “geriatric” by many traditional medical criteria, the rest of the body is certainly not and this has contributed to the societal and demographic issues we are facing today.
“Considering human healthspan and lifespan have increased significantly, Gameto believes this biological phenomenon is no longer fit for purpose and is a problem worth solving. Gameto sees the potential to expand its platform to the entire aging market.”
