I-Corps: Characterization of the Vaginal Microbiome Through Sampling Kits

这个I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使阴道微生物组测试解决方案得到更广泛的采用。最常见的阴道生态失调是细菌性阴道病（BV），在任何给定时间影响30%的女性。BV使妇女面临性传播感染、尿路感染的风险增加，如果怀孕，早产、低出生体重和自然流产的风险增加。然而，大多数女性甚至不知道自己患有BV。 BV只有在有症状时才能治疗，但所有病例中有一半是无症状的。因此，有数以百万计的BV妇女，她们有感染和不良妊娠结局的风险，但不知道自己的风险。这项技术将允许在家中进行独立的测试，其中包括一个易于理解的报告，可以直接与患者的医生分享。这个I-Corps项目将探索用于分析阴道微生物组（细菌）的家庭采样套件的商业潜力。 其愿景是赋予妇女关于其健康的新知识，并推动围绕女性相关细菌疾病的创新护理。我们技术的核心是双重的- DNA测序和生物信息学。对于DNA测序，我们的技术使用Illumina测序仪分析阴道细菌样本，以获得部分细菌基因组。然后使用专有的生物信息学管道对样品中存在的细菌进行分类和定量。然后对细菌进行分类可以让用户更好地了解它们如何获得和保持健康。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is to enable wider adoption of vaginal microbiome testing solutions. The most common vaginal dysbiosis is bacterial vaginosis (BV) which affects 30% of women at any given time. Having BV puts women at risk for increased incidence of sexually transmitted infections, urinary tract infections, and, if pregnant, preterm birth, low birth weight, and spontaneous abortion. Yet, most women don't even know they have BV. BV is only treated if it is symptomatic, but half of all cases are asymptomatic. Therefore, there are millions of women with BV, who are at risk for infections and adverse pregnancy outcomes, but are unaware of their risk. This technology would allow for discrete at-home testing that includes an easy to understand report that can be shared directly with the patient's physician.This I-Corps project will explore the commercial potential of an at-home sampling kits for analyzing the vaginal microbiome (bacteria). The vision is to empower women with new knowledge about their health, and drive innovative care around female related bacterial disorders. The core of our technology is twofold - DNA sequencing and bioinformatics. For DNA sequencing, our technology uses Illumina sequencers to analyze a vaginal bacterial sample to attain part of the bacterial genomes. A proprietary bioinformatics pipeline is then used to categorize and quantify the bacteria present in the sample. Classifying the bacteria then allows the user to better understand how they can get and stay healthy.