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Departmental Seminar: Dr. Don Conrad
Event Date: 12.01.2014
Day: Monday
Time: 12:00 pm
Location: 601 Fairchild
Event Type: Departmental

Dr. Don Conrad

Assistant Professor
Department of Genetics

Washington University School of Medicine


Title: "Genetic and genomic control of mammalian spermatogenesis"

Abstract:

Male infertility is a surprisingly common disease thought to affect as much as 4%-5% of all men. Deletions of the Y chromosome are the primary recognized genetic risk factor for male infertility, explaining 5-10% of cases of azoospermia, and they have both diagnostic and prognostic utility in the clinic. As a first step towards integrating whole genome sequencing into the management of male infertility, we have begun to perform large scale genetic analysis of cohorts of men with idiopathic azoospermia. Our results have shown that sperm production is modulated by genetic variants across the genome and allowed us to identify a small number of novel genetic risk factors for low sperm count. One exceptional association involving the gene CSMD1 was replicated in a study of female gonadal function and potentially highlights a novel mechanism regulating the production of gametes in mammals. In parallel to these epidemiological studies, we have been developing methods for direct transgenesis of male germ cells in vivo, which will allow us to rapidly characterize the effects of mutations on multifarious germ cell phenotypes.

Host: Dr. Molly Przeworski
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