Our technology
Combining the biological power of traditional bioassays with the speed and polish of synthetic biology, InsituGen’s bioassay technology is a powerful new tool for the detection of steroid hormone bioactivity.
A revolution in steroid hormone testing.
InsituGen’s technology revolutionises the detection of anonymous or established androgenic or estrogenic compounds, permitting the screening of more samples in a range of diverse matrices across the sports doping, health and wellbeing, supplement, and environmental safety industries.
InsituGen’s unique cell-free bioassay replicates nature, detecting any activation of steroid hormone receptors.
Bioassay technology detects all bioactivity against androgen and estrogen receptors, without prior knowledge of chemical structures, reference libraries, or expensive specialist equipment. InsituGen’s technology is non-targeted, able to detect all bioactivity from a steroid hormone family in a sample.
Principles of bioassay technology
InsituGen’s cell-free bioassay technology replicates the cellular pathways involve in steroid hormone signalling.
Bioactive compounds in a test sample will bind to hormone receptors (e.g. AR = androgen receptor). Once activated, the receptors will dimerise and bind to the androgen response element on our custom DNA sequence.
RNA polymerase is then activated, producing an RNA aptamer that, when bound to a fluorophore, will create fluorescence that can be read by a fluorometer, indicating the bioactivity in the sample.
Cost-effective & timely
InsituGen’s cell-free bioassay provides timely data, and can be completed in under 2 hours, using standard laboratory equipment.
No cell culture or long incubation times are required. Cellular pathways are replicated in vitro, and adapted to produce a fluorescence output scaling with hormone bioactivity.
Adaptable & versatile
The cell-free bioassay is suitable for individual sampling, or high-throughput screening. Our firstFlagX bioassay kit is currently available in a 96-well format.
InsituGen’s technology is currently focused on detection of bioactivity using androgen and estrogen receptors. Other steroid hormone receptors are possible.
Non-targeted
InsituGen’s bioassays permit detection of total androgen or estrogen bioactivity, regardless of molecular structure.
Biological techniques such as reporter gene cellular bioassays are able to detect the presence of androgens by exploiting steroid biology. Using these techniques, any activation of androgenic pathways can be detected, regardless of the chemical anonymity or molecular fingerprint of the compound. These cell-based bioassays are laborious, low throughput, time-consuming, and rely heavily on specialised equipment and personnel.
Exploiting the biological pathway using synthetic biology, InsituGen has developed bioassays capable of detecting any androgenic-activating compound, whether of known or unknown structure.
Works alongside existing chemical analysis methods
Current steroid hormone analysis or hormonal profiling relies on the use of chemical techniques to detect compounds of interest through a database of referenced chemical structures. These chemical techniques are crucial to the identification of unique chemical structures. Whilst analytical chemistry techniques are effective at detecting a range of profiled compounds, it is difficult to identify the novel molecular architecture of the emerging range of designer androgens prevalent in the sports-doping and supplement industries, xenoestrogens and xenoandrogens that leach from microplastics, or phytoestrogens and androgens emerging as potent environmental hazards, and other small molecules that may interact with the androgen receptor pathways. InsituGen’s technology provides an effective screening tool within current testing workflows.
Test your samples with InsituGen’s bioassays
The bioassay has also been adapted to an easy-to-use kit, firstFlagX.
Contact us to find out more.
InsituGen’s bioassay is used for the detection of steroid hormone bioactivity, testing human supplements, products, and clinical and environmental samples sent to our New Zealand facility.
Contact us to find out more.
InsituGen’s bioassay technology offers the opportunity for meaningful interventions and outcomes via a wide-range of applications.
InsituGen’s unique cell-free bioassay replicates nature, detecting any activation of steroid hormone receptors.
Bioassay technology detects all bioactivity against specific receptors, without prior knowledge of chemical structures, reference libraries, or expensive specialist equipment. InsituGen’s technology is non-targeted, able to detect all bioactivity from a steroid hormone family in a sample.
The technology has been tested for a range of applications including sports doping in animals and humans, hormone profiling in companion animals, environmental water monitoring, and testing of supplements and wellness products for human use.
Learn more and explore the potential applications.